


an Accidental Red

by willowcabins



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Discussion of Mental Health, F/F, Kara Has PTSD, Panic Attacks, Quebec Seperatists, Slow Build, undercover kissing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-05-30 12:59:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6425032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowcabins/pseuds/willowcabins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When confronted with the ultimate question of saving Alex's life by endangering her own, Kara never really paused to consider. The answer was too simple. <br/>Or: how an explosion at Lord Industry, a a fancy party at the Canadian Embassy and a rogue Quebec supervillain made Alex Danvers a superhero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. fuse

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to be modifying the tags with every chapter, worry not. The beginning of each chapter will also contain warnings, if applicable. Chapter 2 and 3 are already written, so this will be updating on a weekly basis.  
> I'm also hurt and amazed that i had to _make_ the Quebec separatist tag bc that's important ppl.

Kara was character counting when it all happened. Cat needed the press release to be less than 600 characters for the SEO, so she tasked Kara with cutting out 36 characters without changing "anything." It was a thankless task, that required a lot of switching "which" to "that" and then back again, but Kara was engrossed. She loved trying to puzzle through tasks like this, tasks that allowed her to immerse herself in Cat's effortless and fluent writing.

She looked up when she heard a distant sound; she glanced around. No one else in the office seemed to have noticed. A disadvantage of super-hearing. She continued working.

She only had 9 more characters to cut when she became aware of Winn hissing her name. She glanced at him, surprised.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Winn rolled his eyes dramatically.

"I'm fine, but _Supergirl_ needs to be somewhere else."

"What?" Kara demanded in a hoarse whisper, jumping up. Winn nodded at the screen of his computer. The twitter feed of the BREAKINGNEWS CatCo account was reporting "a fire @ a Lord Technology Lab." Kara glanced at her work, and then nodded.

"I'm off," she said.

"That's not all," Winn said quickly before she walked away. He pulled up another window on his screen, which Kara recognised as a carbon copy of the DEO computers. She raised an eyebrow at Winn, but he just gestured for her to read the screen.

>Alpha Squad en route to Lord Industries Lab 32, the text read. Kara's brow furrowed.

"Why is the DEO checking out an ordinary fire?" he asked. Kara was staring at the screen.

"That's Alex's squad," she muttered, ignoring Winn's question. "She must be about to call me. It must be some kind of alien problem..."

"Call her while you're flying."

"Yes. Okay. Okay." Kara darted to her desk, and then jogged out of the office at a barely human speed. Winn bit his lip and turned back to his computer. The blank DEO screen gave him no new information. It was no wonder the DEO was checking out someone as fishy as Lord, but Winn liked concrete details. Evidence. Explanation. Why this specific incident? What about this incident made the DEO nervous?

 

He really hoped Kara would tell him.

"Alex?" Kara's voice was muffled. Alex hopped out of the transport vehicle and turned towards where CatCo Tower was, in the hopes that it would make the cellphone signal better.

"Kara?" She asked. The static didn't decreased. "Are you flying?"

"Yes, I heard about the explosion -"

"The one at the Lab?" Alex asked.

"Yeah," Kara said, her voice slightly breathless. Alex smirked.

"I beat you there, Kara. I'm there now."

"I know, I can see you." She landed with a thump next to Alex, and then matched her stride as if she hadn't just kareened out of thin air. Alex grinned at her, and Kara raised an eyebrow. "Which, by the way, means you only beat me by like 30 seconds."

"Hey!" Alex protested. "More like a _minute_ and thirty seconds." Kara chuckled. They crested the small crater created the by the explosion. Kara frowned down at it, and then glanced at Alex. There were several small fires, and a lot of rubble, and she seemed torn between waiting for Alex, and rushing to help those.

"Go ahead," Alex said with a smile. "Help those who need Supergirl. I'll be here to answer all questions in 30 seconds."

"Great." Kara jumped up, and then swooped down to help the first responders push off rubble. One of the firemen grinned at Kara, and Alex could feel Kara's presence raising the moral of the group as she walked in.

"The perimeter is secure, boss," Alex's second in command told her through her ear pieces.

"Any sign of activity?" she asked, not taking her eyes off Kara as she held up a beam so two EMTs could carry out an unconscious scientist.

"No alien," Marlene said.

"But?" Alex prompted, all too familiar with her second’s voice.

"Some weird stuff," she admitted. Alex frowned and glanced between the perimeter and Kara.

"Collect samples for me and Vasquez, document the scene and then do a full clean up,” she said. She knew that Kara didn’t need her here, but it was good that someone was watching Kara’s back. “Send whatever men you don't need to me," she added.

"Yes, sir."

"And Marlene? Keep an eye out. I have a bad feeling about this place."

"That's probably just Lord vibes, Ma'am."

“Probably,” Alex agreed. “Which reminds me. Vasquez, do we have a location on Mr. Lord?”

“I have good news and bad news about that.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Lord has just been arrested by the FBI.”

“Was that the good news or the bad news?”

“That was the good news.”

“What’s the bad news?”

“Thanks to our decision to...unlawfully detain him for a while, the FBI has blocked access to him.”

“What? Can they do that?”

“Theoretically, yes. We did violate his human rights.”

“He’s barely human.”

“I know. Should I lodge a complaint?”

“Yes. And give me a one to one with Agent Chase.”

“Of course, Ma’am.” Alex turned back to watching Kara help the firemen. As far as Alex could see from this distance, there were few casualties. According to the official description of this lab, it was small and contained mostly botany projects. The location was too remote, and the security too high, for Hank to believe that story, though, and the thermal imaging he had commissioned from the US satellite had proved correct.

Alex could see Kara realizing something was off about the building too. She glanced back at Alex as one of the firemen announced that there was "more down here." Alex just continued watching, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Do our satellites show anything?" She asked Vasquez.

"No infra red signatures down there," Vasquez reported. Alex sighed and started walking towards the clean up crew.

"Send that image to the National City fire department. Make it look like it came from the FBI."

"Yes, Ma'am." Alex turned off her com again and jogged so she was standing next to Kara.

"There's nothing down there," she muttered quietly. Kara nodded.

"I know, and they know," she said gesturing towards the firemen. They're just confused about the origin of the blast."

"What?"

"Look." Alex realized they were pretty much sitting in the center of the crater. She looked around, and then glanced back down at the point of origin that Kara was pointing towards.

"I don't understand," she admitted. "What's wrong?" She glanced between Kara and the group of firemen that were gathering around them. One of the firemen gave her a skeptical look, as if she was dumb. Alex straightened up, gave him her best "Acting Director" glare and turned to Kara. Kara hadn't noticed the subtle interaction, too focused on the center of the crater.

"There is no incendiary device," she said absently.

"What?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow. Kara tilted her head at Alex, but before she could answer, a second firemen interjected.

"To make a bomb, especially a bomb with this kind of impact, you need _something_ , Ma'am." The fireman was the oldest there, probably one of the Chief. His salt and pepper hair was thinning, and although he looked a bit plump, he still seemed strong. Moreover, his presence demanded respect, and right now he looked as concerned as Kara.

"Where is the residue of the explosive?" A third fireman, a woman, asked, looking around. "There isn't even any dusting."

"This looks like something just...gave off a blast. But nothing exploded. Does that make sense?" The Chief asked, tilting his head at Alex. Alex nodded slowly.

"Technically, yes," she agreed thoughtfully.

"But it's impossible," the aggressive first fireman snapped.

"Physically impossible," The Chief corrected. The short firewoman snorted at that.

"It's also physically impossible that a beautiful blonde can fly around our city saving lives," she said with a shrug. Kara grinned at her. "I think physics have become something...debatable in National City."

"Supergirl didn't do this!" The Chief protested, offended on Kara's behalf. The woman rolled her eyes.

"That's not what I said! I just said, if we have one girl who can do something impossible, then what are the odds that this wasn't a different impossible girl?" She asked. First Fireman snorted.

"It was probably an impossible guy," he interjected.

"Seriously, Henry?" The Chief snapped, while the woman hissed "Shut up, Henry" and turned on him with a viscous glare.

"Sorry," he said, raising a hand in repeat. "I'll go."

"Ma'am, you wouldn't by any chance know anything about this?"

"At this moment, I don't. We were brought out here because Lord was already on our watchlist. But if I hear anything, you'll be the first to know," Alex assured the two remaining people.

"Thank you," the chief said with a small nod of his head. Alex smiled at them, and they walked off to join the rest of the effort. Kara turned to Alex and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you really doing here?" She asked. "And why didn't you call me?"

"Firstly, I try and respect your day job, Kara. I mean, Miss Grant can only deal with your absence for so long."

"True," Kara admitted with a nod.

"And secondly, no one here was in immediate danger. We only came because Vasquez picked up on some insane readings. It could be equipment failure, but one of the aliens that escaped Fort Raz is...well, his skin is a glorified incendiary device when it gets into contact with purified water." Kara laughed.

"That sounds....bad," she admitted. Alex smirked.

"It is,"

"So you think this alien did this?" Kara asked, titling her head. Alex shook her head with a sigh.

"Well, we thought it could be him, but we don't think so anymore." They had reached the car and come to a stop. Kara quirked an eyebrow.

"Why not?" She asked. Alex did a quick head count of her squad; Marlene and Morgan were still missing. They were probably running point on the disaster. She turned back to Kara.

"Well, first off, there were would have been evidence."

"You mean the alien would have left...something?" Kara clarified.

"Yes," Alex agreed. "Whatever did this was...different."

"Nothing that matches our Fort Raz database?"

"Not as far as I know right now," Alex admitted with a sigh. She caught sight of Morgan and Marlene jogging towards her. "Hank is back at base double checking now though," she told Kara, opening the back door for her last two squad members.

"All done," Marlene confirmed as she jumped into the car.

"Thanks, LT," Alex said with a curt nod before she slammed the door and walked to the front so she could sit shot gun. Kara fell into step next to her.

"Did they find anything?" She asked. Alex shook her head.

"Nothing of note. They'll run some tests back at the lab. But first of all, we have to go see Lord."

"We have Lord in custody?" Kara asked, surprised. Alex grinned.

"Well, the FBI does."

"Why do you look so mischievous about that?" Kara demanded. Alex closed the door of the car and hung her head out of the open window.

"Well, remember the time we unlawfully detained him without a trial?" She asked.

"Oh no," Kara muttered.

"Yeah. Turns out our good friend Agent Chase has barred us from further contact."

"Oh no."

"Oh yes."

"We're going to go convince her, right? To give him back to us?"

"Of course. I'll meet you there?"

"Please. Vasquez? Send me the coordinates for the FBI headquarters please."

"Yes Ma'am."

 

Kara and Alex spent most of the night pacing outside the fancy FBI holding cell, counting the seconds during which the useless FBI interrogators treated Lord like some sort of celebrity instead of a malicious evil super genius.  The whole ordeal left Alex tense and seething, and Kara anxious and disappointed. This was, ultimately, her fault. If she had insisted on Lord’s….unlawful detainment, they would still be allowed to take him. But the main consequence of her insistence of keeping Lord a prisoner after the Non affair was an order from the President, demanding that all transgression by Max Lord be investigated by the FBI, and the FBI alone.

So they were stuck to pacing outside the halls. Kara cape swished as she paced. She could hear Lord chuckling, and the sound made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She glanced at Alex, who was pacing in the opposite direction. Alex was consulting her tablet, working on something. Kara breathed out, annoyed.   


The room was 17 regular steps long. Kara counted steps in a regular beat, like a tap dripping water, focusing only on her feet. She tried to focus on her breaths, keep the anxiety at bay. This was not her fault. The explosion was not her fault.   


The room was 13 large steps long. If she listened, she could hear all the questions they asked Lord, but she could also hear him charm them. Him lie to them. Kara gritted her teeth.   


The room was 22 small steps long.   


“This is all my fault,” Kara muttered, breaking the silence with a huff. Alex stopped. She looked up from her tablet, and walked to Kara’s side.   


“Don’t take this personally,” she warned as she gently squeezed Kara’s arm. Kara looked up, and smiled wryly.   


“It’s hard not to,” She admitted. “If you were in there grilling him, he would have broken 10 minutes ago.” Alex laughed.   


“That’s only because he’s terrified of me,” she said grimly. Kara smirked.   


“I see that as a good thing,” she admitted.   


“You would. The United States Justice system wouldn’t.”

Kara tilted her head and turned towards the cell, holding up a finger to shush Alex. "What?" Alex whispered.

"He just asked for a Dr. Pepper and a comfortable bed."

"So I guess they're detaining him."

"No luck for us."

"Fuck this."

"Shush, Agent Chase is coming!"

"She'd better explain herself well..."

Agent Chase came out, and raised an eyebrow at both of them. "I don't know what you two are still doing here," she said, lips tight. "I told you I won't let you see him." Kara glared at her. Under the fluorescent light, Agent Chase looked shorter than she had in the DEO, and yet she still intimidated Kara.

"Please, Ma'am," she began, but Alex interrupted her.

"Chase, just let us ask two questions," she said briskly, stepping in front of Kara. "We just want to rule out the chance of an alien attack."

"It wasn't an alien," Agent Chase said, crossing her arms defensively. Kara snorted and poked out from behind Alex's back.

"How do you know?" She demanded, raising an eyebrow. "He could be lying to you."

"We are not total hacks here at the FBI, Supergirl," Chase said, condescendingly.

"Neither are any agents at the DEO," Alex replied, stepping in front of Kara again and crossing her arms, "and yet he's lied to us before."

"Well, was he wearing a lie detector then?" Chase demanded, raising her eyebrow in defiance. Alex rolled her eyes.

"No, but -" She began, but Chase interrupted her.

"So. Please leave." She gestured at the door. Alex let her arms fall to her side in defeat. Kara looked between them.

"Agent Chase!" She called out, incredulous. Chase shrugged.

"From what I can see, we're dealing with a totally normal terrorist," she explained. "Terrorists are outside the DEO jurisdiction, if I remember correctly."

"A normal terrorist?" Kara scoffed. "What's that?"

"Someone who is upset at Lord Industries and tried to destroy Lord's reputation," Chase replied stiffly.

"You think Lord is _innocent_?" Alex demanded, aghast. Agent Chase sniffed, clearly offended.

"You seem to forget that we work for a system that proclaims men innocent until proven guilty, Ms. Danvers," she snapped.

"It's _Agent_ Danvers," Kara corrected icyly.

"Whatever it is, it needs to leave." Chase opened the door, and gestured for them to leave. Kara opened her mouth, aghast at this woman's behavior, but Alex just laid a hand on Kara's arm.

"Leave it, Kara," she warned her quietly. Kara snapped her mouth shut and glared at Chase before she stalked out of the door, her cape flowing around her regally. Alex smirked at Kara's back, gave Chase a long stare and jogged to catch up with Kara. The rest of the FBI facility reminded Alex of a hospital, except the floors were grey linoleum and the walls were a dull grey color. It was all thankless and ugly, but at least Kara's shoes mad a satisfied clacking on the floor and she seemed to take up the hallway with her regal walk.

"I'm so mad at her," she fumed. "How _dare_ she?"

"I know," Alex said, holding open one of the many glass doors.

"Can we abduct Lord?" Kara asked. One of the security guards glanced up at them, surprised. Kara grinned at him while Alex rolled her eyes.

"Not unless you want to put the DEO under some pretty intense investigation," she told Kara, handing the security guard her visitors badge.

"I'd rather not," Kara admitted with a sigh as Alex signed them both out. Alex grinned as she handed the clipboard back to the curious security officer.

"Smart move," she agreed. They stepped out into the night. It was April, but the air was warm, and Alex felt spring around her. She grinned up at the night sky, which was clear. The moon was bright and full, and Kara grinned at it.

"Do you want a lift home?" She asked. "Flying is so beautiful on nights like these."

"I don't think I can go home after this," Alex admitted. "I'm too.. excited? I want to find answers." Kara nodded, and then glanced from Alex to the sky.

"Do you want a lift to that pub in Chicago?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "We could order those amazing burgers they have there, and then try and figure this out over food." As if on cue, Alex's stomach growled. She laughed.

"Yes please," she admitted.

"Oh! Better yet, we can drink their amazing apple cider too and discuss how terrible Lord is," Kara said, excited. Alex grinned as she zipped up her coat.

"Can't we do both?" She asked with a smirk. Kara grinned.

"You're so smart," she said with a happy sigh. “This is why I love you.”


	2. ignition point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks 2 the CRAPPY internet in my house, this is the FOURTH TIME i'm trying to post this. but anyway, thanks for jay for proof reading~!

Between the trip to Chicago, cold Chicago beer and a slightly drunk Alex, Kara had nearly forgotten about Max Lord for several hours. For several hours, she had been able to trace the curve of Alex’s shoulder, and the way her hair fell across her face when she laughed too hard while they were chatted up by two nice hockey players in the bar. It had been beautiful, and Kara had held Alex’s hand all night. She was stilling tingling from the evening, physical contact leaving the buzz in her system that alochol could never reach, when she got to work.

But now, it was four hours later, and worry about just _what_ Lord was up to this time was gnawing at her stomach. She stared at her screen blankly, her eyes glazing over as she felt the familiar desire to leave, to fly, to escape tug at her mind.

“Keira!” Cat’s tone snapped Kara back to reality. Winn jumped in his seat, and then glanced over at Kara, his expression asking the question “what have you done this time?”. Kara shrugged at him and slipped into the office. “I trust you heard about the Lord Industries thing?” Cat asked, holding out her hand for the refill of her latte that Kara was sent out nearly fifteen minutes ago. Kara gave it to her quickly.

“Yes, Ma’am,” she said, scrambling for her notebook.

“Well, this morning I thought I would cash in that 2000$ bottle of whiskey I gave to Maxwell at Christmas, but can you believe it?” Cat sighed and slipped off her shoes, dropping each of her high heels on the floor dramatically and glaring at the screens. “That ball of slime Max Lord refused to even give me a even a minor little quote,” she muttered. “I’m so mad.”

“He hasn’t been talking to the police, either,” Kara rushed to assure Cat. Cat spun around in her chair and raised a finely pencilled eyebrow.

“I heard that too,” she admitted. “My sources say that he has refused to cooperate with the police, and had three separate legal teams all present all night. They’re fighting the DA on every charge.” 

“ _Every_ charge?” Kara gaped. She _knew_ it. The FBI was useless. This is what happened when anyone other than Alex interviewed him.

“Yes,” Cat hummed, clicking her tongue. “It doesn’t make sense. One, the DA is trying to _help_ him. He’s the victim! His building was attacked!” She tapped the pencil against her teeth noisly. “Two, why draw so much attention to himself? If he’d dismissed it and allowed an inspection and admitted fault on live TV, all of this would have blown over. No. None of this makes sense,” she muttered. She turned to one of her screens which was clearly discussing the explosion. The photograph of the site of the explosion (clearly taken from through the fence that surrounded Lord’s grounds) faded into a picture of Max Lord himself at a recent hospital opening.

“I don’t like Max Lord’s new smile,” Cat decided, turning off that one screen. Kara nodded, chewing her lip. She agreed. “He looks like he’s plotting something,” Cat sighed. She turned to Kara and tilted her head. “I want someone in there.” Kara turned from the blank screen and stared at Cat. 

“What?” Kara asked, confused. “In where?”

“We have several different investigative journalists on retainer, Kiera. Get me the best. Get me reports from each and every one of them. Tell me everything I want to know about Maxwell Lord.” Kara nodded and smiled. She loved talking to the investigative journalists on retainer.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Also, you can tell Olsen if he wants to sniff around he’s more than welcome to it.”

“I’ll pass that on.”

“There is a scoop here. I know there’s one. I can sense. I won’t let the _Daily Planet_ get there before me.”

“I’ll see what I can find.” Cat smiled and Kara slipped out of her office.

“What did she want?” Winn asked in a hushed whisper as Kara made a beeline for her desk.

“I get to meet with the best journalists of National City and ask them what they think about Lord!” She told him in a stage whisper, so he could hear it over the sound of her packing her bag. He frowned.

“You think they know things I don’t know?” He asked, clearly offended. Kara grinned.

“They know _different_ things,” she said, appeasing him. “They might even know something about this explosion. They could just give us better information for you to...puzzle out!” Winn pouted.

“Tell me everything afterwards?” He asked. Kara’s grin widened and she nodded. 

She was going to have to meet a lot of people for coffee today. Thank god caffeine didn’t affect her.

-

Most of the investigative journalists on Cat’s retainer were smart enough that they had already started on the process of investigating Max Lord. Kara’s six favorite reporters accepted her offer of a coffee date at Noonan’s, and each presented her with a large brown envelope of receipts in return for a small white envelope from CatCo with their checks.

“I started the second he sneered at Supergirl,” Julie Madison said with a sly smile. “I’ve been tracking his money, and I have some news.” Kara smiled. She liked Madison. The broad shouldered woman had started off as an accountant, and still trusted money trails the most. “He’s been investing a lot of money in weapon manufacturing and he bought several different patents. I don’t trust that man as far as I can throw him.” Kara pulled out her notebook.

“What kind of weaponry is he interested in?” She asked. Madison grinned and leaned forward conspiratorially, leaning over her latte macchiato. 

“I hear his latest project has been explosives.” 

“Explosives?” Kara raised an eyebrow, but started noting it down.

“Yes,” Madison said smugly, leaning back in her chair. “More specifically, the patents of one specific weapons engineer.”

“Just one?” Kara asked, adjusting her glasses.

“Maude-Marie Tremblay. She’s Canadian.”

“Oh.” Kara blinked. She didn’t really know what she had expected, but for some reason, this wasn’t it. Madison grinned at Kara’s surprise, as if it was testament to Madison’s journalistic ability.

“Lord has bought nearly every single one of her inventions;” she explained. “Tremblay is an explosion specialist and designed some IUD that the US military was interested in before Lord outbid them.” Kara frowned.

“Those patents are worth that much money?” She asked, genuinely surprised.

“A huge chunk,” Madison said, rubbing her thumb and index finger together to indicate just how _much_ money it was. “He’s not been marketing them though, much to the annoyance of the US military.” Kara tilted her head.

“Why did he buy them then?” She asked, brow furrowed. Madison grinned.

“That’s the million dollar question,” she told Kara and took a long sip of her drink. Kara frowned.

“Well, when you have an answer, you know Ms. Grant will pay,” she said, disappointed. Madison seemed surprised at Kara’s dejection. 

“I can give you everything _except_ the answer to that specific question,” Madison offered. “Everything else is in the numbers. I can tell you what he’s doing, what he’s manufacturing, but I can’t tell you why. Yet.”

“And Ms. Grant is already paying you for that information, but unless you have the answer, she’s not printing anything that doesn’t resemble it,” Kara replied patiently. Madison sighed loudly and ran her hand through her hair.

“That means you’re spending the day here, right?” She asked. Kara grinned.

“Yes.” Madison rolled her eyes and gave Kara a packet of papers. “That’s Lord Industries financial data, with close attention to what he did in the last four years. Ms. Grant might be interested in a couple of the conclusion I’ve made about fraudulent purchases.”

“I’ll pass them on,” Kara said gratefully. “Ms. Grant will probably publish that article next week.”

“Wonderful. I love my name in CatCO Magazine.” She grinned at Kara, and Kara envied her enthusiasm.

-

“Did you know that the justice system will fork over court records for a large sum?” Victoria Vale asked with a small smirk. “For a very decent sum, I can tell you the story of a woman called Maude-Marie Tremblay.” Kara tilted her head, pulled out her notebook and nodded for Vale to go on. She already knew that name.

“You have my attention,” she said as a prompt for Vale to continue.

“Marie Maude Tremblay is an engineer. She was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempting to bomb the Ottawa government building.” Kara raised an eyebrow. _This_ was new information. “She’s a quebec separatist,” Vale added quickly, as if that explained the whole “bombing the government building” business. Kara furrowed her brow and adjusted her glasses.

“What’s that?” She asked. Vale frowned at her.

“She wants Quebec to be an independent country,” she explained, as if it was obvious. Kara tilted her head.

“Why?” She asked earnestly. 

“Do you want me to explain seventy years of Quebec history to you, or do you want to hear about Maxwell Lord,” Vale snapped, though not necessarily unkindly. Kara understood her sharp tone as more of the annoyance of one professional to another than any particular unkindness. 

“Lord,” Kara admitted with a sheepish grin.

“So stop asking questions and let me talk,” she reprimanded, though she was smiling at Kara again. Kara raised an eyebrow and agreed. Madison continued her explanation: “This Tremblay woman was said to be quite a genius among her circle of admirers. The bomb she was said to have designed that the US army even had an interested in was -” Kara couldn’t help herself.

“Was?” She asked. “You said Tremblay _was_ a genius. What happened to her?” Madison sighed.

“You don’t have any respect for building narrative, do you?” She asked. Kara grinned. Madison sighed. “Tremblay died.”

“Oh.” Kara’s face fell. Her only potential suspect was...well..dead.

“While in prison,” Madison elaborated. Kara frowned.

“Why was she in prison?” She asked.

“She tried to blow up some newspaper in Toronto. That’s not the interesting thing though.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. The _interesting_ thing is that Little Miss Tremblay had a very expensive lawyer, and a very handsome sponsor.” Vale gave Kara a meaningful look.

“Lord?”

“Yes. He got her the best lawyer in the world.” Kara raised an eyebrow. “Or in the country, anyway. He got unlucky though, because the judge was harsh and he ended up spending all that money for nothing. She went to prison and died.” Victoria leaned back and smirked. “I think this explosion has something to do with this woman. She died six months ago. Her will, also owned by the court, gives a lot of stuff to Lord. I’m thinking she gave him some new designs of some sort, and he’s been testing them out.”

“That sounds...terrifying.” Victoria grinned.

“Don’t you just love the legal system? Now, who else are you meeting?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Victoria laughed. She had a deep throated laugh, and Kara decided that she liked the cutthroat woman. She reminded her of Cat.

“I like you. Tell Cat that if she ever wants to give you some field experience that I’d be happy to help.” Kara grinned and nodded.

“Yes, Ms. Vale.”

“Great, I have somewhere else to be now, so see you around, kiddo.”

-

The next journalist was late. Tawny Young was a young, short woman who wore warm cream colours that complemented her black complexion. Her hair was braided into a thousand tiny braids and then stuck up in a tidy bun. Kara noticed that while her outfit and appearance screamed professionalism, her nail polish was coming off and her lips were chapped.

“Do you mind if we sit outside?” Tawny was short, but she glanced around the cafe nervously. Kara glanced out to the street; the March sunshine was still weak, but she didn’t mind sitting at Newman’s outdoor seating area. And besides, she was pretty sure the cafe’s playlist fondness for Coldplaywouldn’t stop any time soon.

“I don’t like those cameras,” Young explained, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and offering Kara one. Kara shook her head politely and watched as the nervous young woman looked around. “You know, Lord Technologies owns...most of the city.” Kara raised an eyebrow.

“Really?” She asked, more intrigued than skeptical.

“He’s hidden it so well that even Victoria can’t see it, but I know it. She told me there was no money to prove it, but I think that he’s too smart for all of us.”

“What do you mean?” Kara asked, pulling out her notebook again.

“This explosion? It’s only a tiny piece of a much larger plan.”

“Can you explain that?” Kara tilted her head. Young took a drag of her cigarette, looked down at it and then turned to Kara, her face serious.

“He seems to be picking up desperate people,” she said. Kara waited for her to elaborate, but she just maintained eye contact while taking another puff.

“What does that mean?” Kara asked.

“He’s looking for volunteers, helping those without homes or with large debt, but in return for a ‘promise.’” She shivered. “I think I can add without saying that he’s mainly preying on the black and hispanic community. He’s funding seventeen student’s Ivy League education in return for terrifying and binding contracts.”

“Is that legal?” Kara asked, horrified. Young snorted, crushing her cigarette in the ash tray.

“With a legal team as big as his, it definitely is,” she muttered wryly. Kara stared between her notepad and Tawny Young.

“Why is he doing that?” She demanded. Young sighed and started fidgeting in her chair.

“Honestly, your guess is as good as mine, but from what I can tell, he wants...subjects.” 

“Subjects for what?” Kara asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.” Young shifted in her seat so she was sitting cross legged on the cheap metal chairs and pulled up her messenger bag. “I want to bring him down,” she explained while she slid the envelope over the table.

“Cat doesn’t like it either,” Kara replied with a grim smile, giving Young her check.

“She doesn’t like it now that her scrawny white ass is in trouble. She didn’t _used_ to complain about Lord,” Young muttered. Kara frowned.

“He’s been doing this for longer?” Young got up and leaned over the back of her chair.

“Yes,” she snapped. “I made Cat aware of it several times. I _told_ her that man is shady, but Cat didn’t care.”

“I’m sure -”

“I don’t want excuses from you, assistant.”

“My name is Kara.”

“I don’t care. You want my story? My story is that man is the epitome of white privilege, and Cat doesn’t want to admit to her own complicity in his rise to power.”

“Ms. Young -”

“You’re seeing Lana today too, right?” She interrupted Kara. Kara nodded.

“She’s woke too. She’ll tell you more about it. He’s a...a really terrible person.” Young sighed and then picked up her bag. “Remind Cat of that,” she decided. “Remind her that he’s awful and terrible. I’ll call her if I know more.” And with that, Tawny Young left. 

-

“He’s fired about a third of his staff recently,” Lana Lang explained. “Tawny and I have been talking to a lot of the disgruntled employees, but it’s really hard. Normally, when there are large cut backs, more of the people who go are the assholes. So you have a lot of people who wanna tell you bad things about their bosses. Not these guys. They’re all good people.” Kara remembered Ethan speeding away on Lord’s train. She remembered the desperation in his eyes, and she shivered.

“Good people?” She asked.

“Yeah. Great scientists. Hard workers. Smart. Moral. They won’t tell us anything about him, other than that they were confused for their reason for termination.” Kara sighed.

“You must have a theory,” she said, though there was an edge of pleading in her own voice. This day had been too many rumours, too few facts.

“I have a million,” Lang chuckled, “but none of them have evidence.” Kara sighed.

“Theories are good for the moment,” she conceded.

“I love the paycheck that usually accompanies that phrase.” Kara smirked and slid over the envelope. Lang opened it, nodded appreciatively and gave Kara a big smile. “The only reason a man fires all the moral people who work for him is because his immoral project is getting too big, and he doesn’t want any of them to know.”

“When you say immoral-”

“That’s exactly what I need more information on. You’ve talked to Julie, right? She thinks he’s working on weapons. That would make sense. But then, the people I’ve been talking to worked in the human medicine and technology sections of Lord Industries. They wanted to help people, improve people’s lives. But why on earth would they care if another, separate section of Lord Technologies was starting to work on weapons?” Kara frowned.

“Wouldn’t you care?” She asked, confused. Lang snorted.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’m not the most moral person though. Perhaps those people care. Perhaps that’s it. But why did Lord terminate them? Why not wait until they leave of their own accord? That would have been a lot cheaper.” She offered Kara a wry smile. “I have a lot of questions and no answers,” she admitted.

“I don’t like it,” Kara sighed. “I don’t like what Lord’s doing.”

“I don’t think you’re meant to.” Lana Lang crossed her arms and looked at Kara evenly. Kara decided that she really liked this woman too, no matter how aggressive she seemed. She smiled a little bit, and added another note to her file. 

-

The last journalist that Kara talked to used to be a scientist. Charlotte Rivers was a short, thin woman who had dyed her hair ridiculous colours. Kara knew from her Wikipedia page that she had a PhD from MIT and an MA from Harvard, but she would have gathered neither of those things based on her appearance. 

She sniffed as she saw Kara. She pulled out a binder, looked at Kara long and hard, and slid it over. “I don’t usually like giving things to anyone except Cat Grant herself, but I just saw Lang leave, and if she trusts you, I trust you.” She told Kara in a clipped tone of voice. Kara nodded and opened up the folder.

“Patent Application,” the first page read. Kara tilted her head.

“That,” Rivers began, “is the application for a Patent that was never filed, because before Tremblay was able to send it away, she was incarcerated. I always thought I had the only available copy when I bribed one of the policemen to steal it from the crime scene.” She looked at Kara evenly. “I was wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“The police report for the explosion at Lord’s lab does not specify the type of explosive, but I bribed a crime scene tech this morning.” Kara made a mental note that someone needed to start paying the National City police department more. It was not good that this scrawny journalist with pink and blue hair could bribe this much information out of everyone. “It’s this exact mix of explosives, down to the tee.”

“How?”

“There are two options. 1) I’m wrong, and Tremblay was an idiot who sold her idea before she completed her application. Or, 2) she’s alive.”

“What?”

“Do you know how easy it is to fake a death, Ms. Danvers?” Kara just stared at Charlotte while the pieces slowly fell into place in her head. Perhaps Lord was worse than even Kara had anticipated. She shivered. She needed to talk to Alex.

-

Cat Grant smiled (genuinely _smiled_ ) as Kara delivered the envelopes of information to her, along with a typed up report of her meetings. “I love it when people deliver,” she said with a smile. Kara wasn’t sure whether Cat meant Kara, or all the journalists, but she smiled brightly anyway. “You can leave early,” Cat decided. “I’m just going to read these and see what I can write for the morning paper.” Kara grinned. It was only 1730, which meant that Alex would still be at the DEO. 

-

“Alex’s been on edge all day,” Vasquez told her in lieu of a greeting as Kara arrived in the main room. Kara frowned.

“The Lord situation?” She asked.

“The more we find out, the more fishy it looks,” Vasquez confirmed. Kara sighed and walked towards the lab pointedly.

“I’m more worried about Lord than I was before,” she announced, walking into the room.

“I didn’t know that was possible,” Alex replied, not even looking up from the samples she was studying on her screen. Kara approached her and watched as Alex completed some complicated math formulas. Alex turned around and tilted her head. “Why do you say that though?” She asked, pushing herself away from the desk and looking at Kara steadily.

“I’ve spent all day with investigative journalists.” Alex frowned.

“What did you find out?” She asked.

“A bunch of bad things,” Kara said with a sigh. She sagged against the table, her arms still crossed. “I think that Lord helped fake the death of a Canadian engineer who was in prison so he could smuggle her into his lab and have her work for him.”

“What?” Alex asked, her brow furrowed.

“It’s pretty complicated, and it starts off with the Quebec separatist movement, but it ends with a very angry, desperate woman, and a man with a lot of money and power.” Alex laughed. She leaned forward and uncrossed Kara’s arms, taking the hands in her own. 

“I hate stories like that,” she joked. “Let me just finish this analysis and then we can tell Hank all about this. See what he knows.” Kara swallowed. Alex held Kara’s eye contact for a moment, clearly waiting for confirmation. Kara smiled weakly and nodded.

“We can update Hank together,” she agreed. Alex grinned, squeezed her shoulder, and turned back to her screen. Kara bit her lip. She loved the small intimate gestures with which Alex told her everything was going to be alright. It helped keep days like these from slowly collapsing inwards. She took a deep breath, and stepped forward so her hands were on Alex’s shoulder.

“What are you working on?” She asked quietly, leaning forward.

“Oh, just my pet project,” Alex said, her eyes not leaving the screen. “This day has been awful. I needed something to get my mind off Lord.” Kara tilted her head and slowly used her right hand to trace the curve of Alex’s hair. Even under cheap fluorescent light, Alex’s short hair looked bright and auburn. Kara’s feather light touch made Alex shiver, but she didn’t move her head away from Kara. Kara smiled, and then began gently combing Alex’s short hair with her hands. This was the only time when she missed Alex’s hair; it had been such a wonderful distraction.

“What’s your pet project?” She asked as she began to collect strands of hair to braid.

“I’m trying to figure out how Lord used your DNA to create Bizarro,” Alex said, though her voice was low. Kara felt her chest seize up, and she dropped Alex’s hair, stepping away.

“What?” Kara asked, stepping closer to the screen and crossing her arms. Talking about Bizarro always made her nervous. She didn’t like that Alex was even _thinking_ about her. Alex bit her lip, but then turned slightly towards Kara.

“I’m not dissecting her or anything,” she whispered. Kara remained stiff, unsure whether or not Alex was trying to make a joke or not.

“I know.”

“I just want to...know as much as he knows.”

“What do you know?” Kara asked, in lieu of acknowledging Alex’s line of thought. Alex gestured towards the screen.

“I have a sample of your blood, and some of Bizarro’s.” She frowned as she brought up the two samples of blood and put the images side by side. “From what I can tell, Lord literally injected her with...a 24th chromosome? It made her...well, ‘super.’ But it’s not that simple.” Alex sighed and pushed her hair out of her face.

“What do you mean?” Kara asked, intrigued despite herself. Of course Lord had been unable to make a kryptonian. Of _course_ Lord had not been able to create an alien. No matter how many samples of Kara’s blood he had, her blood contained elements that Earth’s atmosphere could not even imagine making. Kara remembered that one Joni Mitchell song - we are all made out of star dust, right? Well, Kara was made out of _special_ star dust, star dust that Lord could never replicate.

Somehow, it relieved her. Alex seemed to tell, and smiled at Kara.

“Well, it made her super,” she explained, “but it didn’t make her like _you_.” She gestured at the two pictures of their blood, side by side. “It made her your opposite, right?” Kara nodded.

“Yes.”

“Well, when I isolated the exact chromosome and looked at it, I realised it shouldn’t have done that.” Kara frowned.

“What?” 

“Well, according to the genetic map that Vasquez and I created, it should have made her “super”, not your opposite.” Kara looked between the image and Alex. 

“That sounds weird,” she admitted. “What do you mean by ‘super’?”

“I mean that from what I can tell from this 24th chromosome, it just makes you...a better human being. Faster. Strongers. Better.” Kara wanted to ask more questions, but before she could, Vasquez walked in.

“Are you telling her about the map?” Vasquez asked, glancing between them. Alex nodded. Vasquez sighed.

“We must have isolated the wrong chromosome,” she said, frustrated. “We should ask Pike and Grimm to look at it for us. Fresh eyes might help.” Alex glanced at the computer screen and sighed.

“Good point.” She decided. “Kara, you and I will update Hank on what we know.”

-

“So, you’re saying that you think this Tremblay is still alive?!” Hank asked, raising an eyebrow at Kara. “We have dismissed the hypothesis of alien involvement?” This was directed at Alex.

“Yes,” Kara and Alex said simultaneously. Hank frowned.

“Based on what evidence?”

“The cumulative discussions of several investigative journalists and my understanding of who Maxwell Lord is,” Kara offered. Hank didn’t seem impressed. Alex quickly jumped in. 

“Also, the mix of the explosive that blew up the lab is almost exactly the same as the patent,” she added.

“Almost? What’s different?” He asked, his frown deepening. Alex’s lips thinned in annoyance. It was frustrating how Hank knew everything.

“There is an element I don’t understand as part of it,” she admitted. “I mean, I’m not explosive expert but the explosion didn’t seem to have a source.” Hank glanced at Kara, and then crossed his arms.

“What?” He asked, clearly concerned now.

“Well, in her plans, Tremblay speculates on using an organic explosive that wouldn’t leave a trace,” Alex admitted, gesturing at the patent. “The problem is that everything leaves a trace. Even if it’s just charred remains, there should be something at the center of the blast site.”

“But there wasn’t anything?” Hank pulled up the pictures of the explosion on the nearest tablet, flicking through them wildly.

“Nothing,” Kara said.

“Nothing that even matches these specifications,” Alex corrected.

“What does that mean?” Hank asked, though he asked it more of a rhetorical question than something he wanted an answer too. Kara answered anyway.

“Well, it either means that Tremblay is alive and well,” she speculated, “or someone else has adapted her plans. Either way, that explosion looks like a jail break. Whoever Max Lord was funding, they didn’t like it.” Hank sighed and nodded.

“You’re right,” he said heavily. “That means there are two options.” Kara blinked, surprised.

“What?” She asked.

“Well, if someone doesn’t like working for Max Lord, then it’s either because -” Hank started.

“She was a good person, and didn’t like him,” Kara interrupted.

“Or, he wasn’t evil _enough_ ,” Alex finished. Kara chewed her bottom lip.

“I don’t like that potentiality,” she admitted.

“And the problem is,” Hank said, bringing up a criminal record of a short brunette, “Tremblay’s file is pointing towards the latter.”

“What do you mean?”

“She was more than happy to kill thousands of innocent people in order to send a message to people she considered “bad.” She doesn’t exactly seem the type of person who’d want to escape Lord Industries because of a moral compass.”

“But she was doing that for Quebec…” Kara started.

“That doesn’t matter. She’s not going to blast out of a secret medical facility with peace on her mind,” Hank decided. Kara sighed.

“What should we do?” She asked, spreading her hands helplessly. Alex frowned.

“What was the last place she targeted?” She asked Hank.

“Well, she’s wanted for her attempted bombing of the Ottawa Government building,” he said, scrolling down through the list of her crimes, “but she was caught trying to bomb a newspaper.”

Vasquez strode up to the central table, and glanced between Hank and Alex. Alex held out her hand for the tablet that Vasquez was holding. Vasquez swallowed and gave it to Alex. “I know where she’s going to go,” she said. Alex groaned. Kara leaned over to see what the tablet was saying.

It was a formal dinner invitation to a black tie event.

For the Canadian embassy.

Tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm trying to use this fic to refine my ability to write suspense, because i find that lacking in all my writing. What do you think of my suspense? should i have withheld more answers for longer?


	3. improvised explosions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the promised party at the canadian embassy is more than it appears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm /almost/ getting it down to weekly updates. see me do better next week.  
> also, hit me up on tumblr @ mykabering. honestly, getting encouragement always helps.

"You know,” Kara said, walking through the door that Alex was holding open for her, “I still think it's weird that there is a room full of bulletproof evening wear at the DEO." Alex laughed.

"Would you rather we sent our agents in unprotected?" Hank asked, raising an eyebrow at Kara. Kara rolled her eyes. Alex grinned at her and booped her shoulder as she went to stand next to her and rifle through the dresses. She pulled down one of the black dresses off the rack and held it to herself.

“Does this one work for me?” She asked. Kara frowned.

"You don't have to come, Alex.” She said, brow furrowed. “I can handle this. I mean, it's only one woman, right?" Alex scoffed.

"One woman connected with Maxwell Lord,” she corrected. Kara pulled down a blue dress, frowned at it and put it back. Alex put her hand on Kara’s shoulder, forcing her to look at Alex. “I'm not letting him do anything to you," Alex told her, her gaze steady. Kara fidgeted and then nodded. 

"Fine, but I don't think she wanted to be associated with Maxwell Lord," she said grimly. Alex grinned and handed Kara a different black dress.

"I don't care,” she told Kara. “Alpha Team is already assembling. Wear this tonight." Alex grabbed a dress for herself from the rack and gestured that Kara should follow her. Kara shot Hank a forlorn look, but he just gave her a small smile, and walked back to the main hub. Kara sighed, and followed Alex.

Alex pushed open the door on the right wall of the wardrobe room, and gestured Kara inside. It was a small changing room. Probably where everyone’s lockers was kept, Kara realised. She grinned as she saw Alpha team in several different states of disarray, all chatting animatedly. Kara loved Alex’s team; a group of incredibly well trained men and women, she trusted them. When they entered the room, the group was in full conversation.

"I love going to the canadian embassy," Morgan was saying cheerfully, chucking a hair band at Nebraska.

"They have amazing wine," Kumbi agreed with a smirk. She turned to Kara. "Have you ever tried ice wine?” Kara stared at her, confused. Kumbi laughed. “It's a quebecoise thing!

“It's so amazing," Morgan agreed. Marlene made a face.

"Only if you like sweet things," she told Kara. 

"Well, I'm sorry some of us have sweet tooths, Marlene!" Kumbi moaned in mock offense, turning around to Morgan, offering her bare back. “Morgan, zip me up.” Morgan stepped forward and tilted her head.

"Isn't it sweet teeth?" She asked.

"No, that sounds wrong," Alex disagreed, stepping into the conversation naturally. Kara just stared at her. She had no idea how to enter this space. Alex grabbed her hand though, as f reading her uncertainty, and brought her to a semi-clear part of the bench and putting down her dress there. Kara gave her a small appreciative smile, and then started to undress.

"What dress are you going to wear, Danvers?" Marlene asked, poking around Kara’s shoulder. Kara jumped.

"I was thinking the black one -" Alex started, before Marlene interrupted her.

"You should wear the crop top one!" Alex pulled off her top and rolled her eyes at Marelen.

"Please,” she said in disdain. “That dress isn't good protecting me against _anything_.” She took off her pants and threw them in her locker with a quick flick. 

"I like that dress!" Kumbi complained. Alex scoffed as she stepped into her new dress.

"Well, then you can wear it and get shot in the stomach," she told her. 

"Why are you always so mean to me?" Kumbi asked, as she put a hand on her chest and wiped an imaginary tear out of her eye. Alex grinned at her.

"Because you're the easiest to bully," she said with a smirk before she spun around to offer Kara her back. “Zip me up, Kara.” Kara blushed, flustered as she zipped up Alex’s dress for her. Alex grinned at her thankfully as she spun around again. She pulled neatly on the collar of Kara’s black dress.

"I like that dress on you," Marlene called from the other side of the room. Alex smiled at Kara as Kara adjusted her glasses, blushing.

“Thanks,” she muttered.

"It brings out your eyes," Alex agreed. Kara pulled the hem of the dress self-consciously.

"It's a little...short," she told Alex. Alex grinned, but before she could say something, Marlene called from across the room.

"It's meant to be that way!"

"Marlene! Do you have super hearing or something?" Alex demanded over Kara’s shoulder. Kara turned around and gave Marlene a shy grin.

"What? No!” She protested. “I'm just helping a girl out,” she explained, coming over. “Now, bring your boobs forward,” Marlene advise, adjusting the waistline of Kara’s dress. “Do you need a push up -" Kara batted Marlene’s hands away from her breast.

"No, I'm fine," she said, good naturedly. Marlene huffed.

"Okay, do you wanna do your own make up?" She asked. Kara tilted her head at her, confused.

"Yes of-" before she could finish, she was interrupted.

"I shotgun doing Alex's!" Nebraska called out. Everyone groaned.

"What?" Kara asked, confused as everyone converged around Alex. 

"Did you really think Alex was doing her own make up?" Marlene asked, raising an eyebrow. "She can barely put on mascara well."

"Don't exaggerate," Nebraska tsked. "She's just terrible at contouring." She pulled out her own foundation, and then held it to Alex’s face and sighed. “Alex’s pasty skin is too pasty for my foundation. Who has some White People stuff?” Alex scoffed.

“Not all of us have beautiful Winnebago features,” she muttered quietly. She was right; Nebraska was incredibly beautiful. She had tucked up her thick black hair, but Kara was fascinated by it none the less. Her skin was bronze, and her cheekbones were sharp. Kara realised she 

“Here is some White People Stuff,” Morgan said, leaning over and giving Nebraska her foundation.

“Great,” Nebraska said. “Now, sit down Alex.” Kara glanced between Alex and Nebraska with an amused look.

"Don't give me that look, Kara,” Alex complained. “It makes them happy."

"Also, it makes you look killer, so stop complaining," Marlene added. Alex laughed.

"I'm not complaining! I love looking killer," Alex said. Nebraska shushed her.

“I can’t do your makeup if you continue yammering on.”

“Sorry.”

"Are you sure you don’t want me to do yours?" Marlene asked.

"No,” Kara said with a small smile, “I'm good.”

“She has a steady hand," Kumbi said with a smirk.

"I don't know why you smirked when you said that," Marlene said, tiling her head at Kumbi. "That definitely isn't an innuendo." Kumbi sighed and crossed her arms.

"I'm trying!" She complained.

"You're the weirdest." They way Marlene said it indicated acceptance, and Kumbi lightly punched Marlene in the shoulder before she went back to doing her own make up. Kara couldn't help herself but shoot a smile at Marlene. Alex was always telling her that working with her squad was amazing, but she had never really grasped the comradery that squad work necessitated. She realised she liked it as Kumbi slid over the waterproof mascara with a small shy smile. 

“I assume you didn’t bring any?” she said, and Kara smiled excitedly.

"Are you guys done yet?" One of the men asked, poking his head around the door.

"Almost," Alex called while Marlene replied with a clipped "no," and Marlene rolled her eyes in the mirror. Morgan jogged towards the door.

"I'm ready," she informed the guys dramatically. 

"Nice pantsuit," PJ teased. Morgan raised an eyebrow at him. He raised his hands. "That wasn't meant to be teasing!" He back-pedalled quickly. Morgan rolled her eyes. 

"Let's go get some decent weapons. We gotta pass through a security screening, and I want my weapons to be practically invisible."

"Don't you dare take the stun gun that's shaped like lipstick!" Marlene called.

"Try and stop me!" Morgan shouted back. Alex just rolled her eyes and smirked at Kara.

"Squad work," she said. Kara grinned at followed Morgan and the men out.

Kara and Alex weren't allowed to arrive at the embassy at the same time, since everyone else had to stagger their entrances. This was Tactical Leader Danver’s command, and Kara did not like the fact that she was part of a Strike Team now and had to listen to Tactical Leader Danvers, but then Tactical Leader Danvers squeezed her hand and smiled at her, and promised that she would find her, and Kara didn’t feel so terrible about it anymore.

The Canadian embassy in National City was a small unobtrusive townhouse. Kara glided through security, smiling at the guards and tilting her head just enough to make them let her slide through. Not that she actually had any weapons on her, but the entire business of being checked for metals made her nervous. What if they updated the technology? What if they could sense alien? What if …

Kara was shown through the front door by a polite but slightly pompous waiter, who offered her a tray with champagne flutes and orange juice glasses on it, and then gestured for Kara to walk into the main room. Kara walked in, champagne flute in hand, and glanced around nervously. Despite herself, she caught sight of Chen and Marlene in the west corner of the room, though they did not acknowledge her presence. Kara turned slightly to her right, and walked to a small high table so she could gather her bearings.

It was a large formal party honoring the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, and every important person in National City was there. Except for Cat who thankfully had a Parent Teacher evening at Carter's school this evening. She had actively chosen the meeting over the "Canadiens" because she didn't trust their nicety, though, so Kara was relived. She only had six people plus Alex to protect. And one woman to find. Kara sighed and checked her phone and staring at Tremblay's mugshot for the last time.

"I really hope we recognise her," she murmured in her con.

"We will," Alex murmured back. "She'll be the one setting explosives."

"Hopefully not," Kara corrected. Alex chuckled quietly.

"I’m in,” she whispered. “I'm standing right at the entrance, waiting for you."

"Okay," Kara murmured, and turned back around towards the entrance. The cocktail party was already getting crowded, even though it was still an early evening. Kara felt her chest tightened with anxiety as she was forced to weave through people, always careful about touching them with as little force as possible. She adjusted her glasses nervously and glanced around, desperately trying to find Alex. 

Kara's panic melted away as she caught sight of Alex. When Alex was nervous, she had a habit of leaning on the edge of her foot, making her foot lie flat on the ground. As she stood there, her black dress glittering ever so slightly in the warm light, clutch purse held in front of her, slightly off balance, Kara couldn’t think anymore. Alex was practically radiating, a stunning woman. She shifted her weight awkwardly, looking around the crowd for Kara. Kara just stared at her, unapologetically amazed by her sister. Kara loved Alex, she really loved her, and in this moment the twisting in Kara's gut that wanted to run her hand along Alex's back and breathe her in totally.

Kara licked her lips carefully and approached Alex with a soft smile. "Nebraska was right," she murmured. "That contouring looks amazing on you." Alex grinned and looked down, and Kara could see a tiny blush crawl up her skin, even underneath the foundation. 

"You don't look half bad yourself," Alex replied. She offered her arm, and Kara threaded her arm through it with a small smile. She tried to ignore the small rushes of electricity that Alex's arm on hers gave her.

"I do my best,” Kara said, leaning into Alex as Alex navigated the crowd for them. “Now, do we know if she's in the building?"

"The facial recognition off the security cameras can only give us a facial match up to 60% certainty, so the camera has spotted six potentials,” Alex explained, parking Kara back at the cocktail table she had just left, and snagging herself a champagne flute. “We need to personally discard each individual." Kara pulled a face.

"That sounds...fun," she said wryly. Alex grinned and drained the glass of champagne in one quick motion.

"Yeah, especially since faking your death can really have a toll on your facial structure," she teased. Kara sipped on her champagne, made a face and gave Alex the flute. Alex drained it while Kara glanced around the room.

"There's a chance she could have done...something?" She asked, looking at the growing crowd of the building. All these people were depending on her to find Tremblay before….something happened. Kara adjusted her glasses, a new wave of nauseousness overwhelming her all of a sudden. 

"Like plastic surgery?” Kara nodded, looking down at the intricately patterned white tablecloth. Alex sighed. “Marlene suggested it, and I don't want to rule it out." Kara bit her lip. Alex caught Kara’s nervousness with a small smile and ran a hand down Kara’s arm.

“It’s okay, Kara. We have this under control,” she promised quietly. Kara looked away nervously, but Alex wouldn’t let her escape like this. She grabbed Kara’s hand and pulled her closer, forcing her to turn towards her. “Honestly, Kara,” she murmured. “We have our best team on it.”

“I just wish...we knew more about her,” Kara admitted quietly, looking over Alex’s right shoulder. Alex frowned and cupped Kara’s cheek so she was forced to look her in the eye.

“Vasquez is getting us every piece of information about her every released on the internet or off,” she promised her. Kara smiled sadly.

“I know,” she murmured quietly. Alex held her eye contact, frowning.

“We’re going to do everything in our power to apprehend her,” she promised, squeezing Kara’s arm. Kara leaned into the touch for a single second, before she gave 

“I know.” She took a deep breath and changed the topic, stepping away from Alex, out of the alluring closeness of her body’s warmth. “You said the camera match was only 60% accurate. What are the camera matches based on?" Alex scoffed.

"It's computer technology, why would I know?" She teased.

"Good question,” Kara agreed, giving Alex a pale imitation of her teasing grin. Alex decided to accept it anyway. She grinned back at Kara and squeeze her hand one last time before she pushed herself away from the table.

“Okay, let's see what we can do."

"We've eliminated person 1 and 2," Vasquez’s voice through Alex and Kara's headpieces told them. 

"We'll get on Person 3 then," Alex told Vasquez. Alex’s phone vibrated with a picture of Person 3, one of the 7 people that had a facial recognition hit. Alex handed Kara her phone. The woman on the picture was turned away from the camera, with thick brown hair and a bright blue dress. Kara looked around the room. She narrowed her eyes and scanned the crowd. She caught sight of the blue material.

"She's sitting by the east exit," she murmured to Alex. Alex looked at Kara with a raised eyebrow. Kara glanced back at the exit and sighed. The easiest path to the woman in blue took them across the dance floor.

"I hope you can dance in those heels," Alex teased. Kara rolled her eyes.

"You have no faith in me," she teased. Alex grinned and took her hand neatly, leading her out onto the dancefloor. Alex was a good dancer, and they blended in with the small crowd of dancers. The song was slow, and Kara could get away with letting Alex lead her. 

“I hate that I’m shorter than you,” Alex complained quietly. Kara laughed. 

“You hated that at prom too,” she pointed out.

“Well, you’ve still not gotten shorter,” Alex whispered, her thumb drawing small circles on Kara’s waist. Kara took a deep breath, smelling Alex’s wonderful _unique_ scent, and then trying to distance herself from it.

“I told you you should’ve worn heals,” she said, a lame attempt at a tease. Alex rested her head on Kara’s shoulder and snorted quietly.

“And then not been able to run to catch our criminal?” she asked, incredulous. “No thanks.”

“In order to be the best officer of the law you can be, you just might have to bear being shorter than me,” Kara decided. Alex chuckled.

“That’s the world’s worst compromise,” she murmured, though she didn’t sound too depressed by it. Kara allowed the quiet music from the small string quartet in the corner lull her into a sense of security. She listened to Alex’s heart beat, so easily discernable from all the others in the room, and allowed herself to enjoy this moment.

"Person 3 eliminated," Alex muttered, pulling Kara out of her revery. 

"Why?" Kara whispered, resisting the urge to look over her shoulder.

"She's too old," Alex murmured. "She's in her early fifties. Tremblay should still be in her late thirties."

"Person 4 cleared," the intercom crackled again. Nebraska audibly sighed and sucked at a drink. "They have good martinis here," she murmured. Alex chuckled and Kara leaned on her head on Alex’s. She felt so tired. She hadn't slept well, and she had spent all day on edge, more and more afraid every beat as to what Tremblay was going to do. As she slowly danced across this parquet in Alex's arm, she felt safe. She _knew_ she was in the eye of the hurricane, but for a couple of moments she let herself enjoy this. Alex didn’t seem in a hurry to move either, so they continued quietly dancing.

“Tell me about Nebraska,” Kara asked quietly after a minute or so.

“Nebraska?” Alex asked, her head jerking up in surprise. She gave Kara a quizzical look. “Why?”

“I’m curious,” Kara admitted. “She’s Native American?” Alex nodded, settling against Kara’s shoulder again.

“Yup. Grew up on a reservation and everything.”

“But Nebraska isn’t a very..Native American name, is it?”

“It’s her nickname because she’s _from_ Nebraska,” Alex explained. “Her name is actually Mallory Blackhawk though, so it’s not like _Mallory_ is a very native name.”

“Oh.” Kara couldn’t think of anything intelligent to reply, so she just let herself mull over that.

"Person 5 cleared," Chen mumbled, interrupting Kara's reverie. 

“Person 6 cleared,” PJ added a beat later. Kara looked up as Alex sighed and led them off the dance floor. 

"The computer identified one of the waitstaff as a 7th person," she told Kara. "We'll have to go into the service corridor." Kara raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't bring a change of clothes," she admitted. “We can’t exactly walk in there and pretend to be waitstaff.” Alex grinned.

"Don't worry, I have an idea." Alex grabbed Kara's wrist and pulled her through the crowd. She picked up a champagne flute from one of the trays floating by, downed it, then walked into the waiting corridor, turned around, and kissed Kara.

The motion was not romantic. Alex pulled Kara's face forward and kissed her, and her lips tasted like champagne and for a second Kara didn't react. This was _Alex_ , her sister…. but then it all clicked, and she stepped towards Alex, into her space. Alex seemed to melt into her as Kara cupped Alex’s neck ever so gently, her fingers grazing the hairs at the nape of Alex’s neck. Kara ran her tongue along Alex's bottom lip, and sucked it gently; Alex gasped and ran her hand into Kara’s hair. Kara shifted slightly, and Alex’s back found the wall, giving her a firm surface to anchor herself. She pushed herself up slightly, her hand in Kara's hair curling into a claw as she ran her nails over Kara's scalp. They broke the kiss for a second, both of them staring into each other’s eyes, for one second confused. Alex opened her mouth, as if to say something, but before she could, Kara kissed her again. 

A small cough behind them made them look up. "Sorry," a short indian waiter said, "but you're not allowed to be back here."

"Oh," Alex said, trying to regain her composure. She quickly wiped Kara's lipstick off her lip and gave him a shaky smile. "I'm so sorry we must have gotten carried away." As she said that, Kara saw something strange in the corner of her eye. She glanced to the end of the corridor, but didn’t see anything. She lowered her glasses and narrowed in on the spot again. It was a figure… She followed the figure through the wall with her x-ray vision. The figure was limping oddly and -

Oh no.

"I've found our woman," Kara murmured, trying to ignore the crawling on her skin that felt suspiciously like arousal. Alex snapped up and pulled a gun out of the thigh holster.

"You're not allowed to have weapons in this embassy!" The waiter hissed, the pitch of his voice increasing with fear.

"I'm part of an elite team of FBI agents following a very dangerous criminal, sir," Alex said curtly. "Now please, get out of my way so we can attain her before she does something...drastic."

"Yes, ma'am," he whispered, letting them pass through, his eyes wide.

“People will do anything if you tell them you’re from the FBI,” Alex joked. Kara glanced across to her. She felt...odd. But this was not the time. She took a deep breath, slipped off her heels, and started running to the end of the corridor.

“There’s a small service room here,” she told Alex quickly. “Tremblay’s inside, fiddling with something.” Alex nodded.

"Is she armed?" She asked, gun at the ready. Kara lowered her glasses, narrowed her eyes and looked _through_ the wall.

"I..." She couldn’t tell. The figure was crouched over, she didn’t have any _visible_ weapons sticking out of her pants pocket but...

"Hurry Kara," Alex urged.

"The Lieutenant Governor has arrived," Vasquez hissed through their intercom. “Alex, hurry!”

"Kara!” Alex called out, her voice commanding. “Is she armed?"

"I don't know!” Kara panicked. “X-ray vision isn't -"

"Okay, let me do this." Alex shoved Kara aside and kicked open the door of the service room. Kara knew that kryptonians were meant to have faster reflexes than humans, but in that one moment she was so stunned she couldn't react. Alex, gun drawn, was shielding her from the room, as if _anything_ that a human woman could wield against Kara would be harmful! She wanted to grab Alex's arm and yank her back, but it was too late. The door was open, and Marie Tremblay was staring at them, eyes wide open.

"Stop what you're doing immediately," Alex order, gun pointed straight at Tremblay’s head. The shortish woman jumped up. She was fiddling with a suitcase, but immediately stepped back and raised her hands as she realised Alex wasn't kidding. "Slide the suitcase over to me." Alex instructed. Tremblay smirked, but did.

"Kara, open it," Alex muttered. Still sheltered by Alex's (frail, human) body, Kara grabbed the briefcase and opened it. A sheaf of papers fell out. 

Alex and Kara stared from Tremblay, to the papers. Tremblay knelt down, looked up at them and spread her hands dramatically.

"It's all my research," she said cheerfully, gesturing at the papers. "I was meeting a buyer here." Although Kara had just spent nearly three hours looking for this woman, staring at her mugshot, she couldn’t quite reconcile the mental image she had of Tremblay and this woman. This woman was short, plump and had unkempt brown hair that was tucked away in a careless bun. She has a nice smile, even though her teeth were slightly crooked. Since her mugshot had been taken, she had lost both her front teeth though, and her nose looked like it had been broken at least once. Kara just looked between her and the briefcase, while Alex gaped at her.

"You were selling your research?" She demanded. Tremblay shrugged.

"Lord wasn't paying me well enough," she explained.

"Lord _faked_ your death and broke you out of prison though," Kara pointed out.

"Hearsay,” Tremblay said with a smirk. “Anyway, he relied on that fact to ensure my loyalty. Why should I be loyal to such a scumbag? So I decided to leave."

"And you left by blowing a hole in his building," Alex deadpanned, crossing her arms in frustration. Tremblay nodded.

"Of course," she replied unironically.

"Squad leader, what's happening!?" Marlene sounded panicky. Kara turned to Alex, who turned away from Tremblay.

"We've caught Tremblay, but she's not armed with explosives." Tremblay smirked and inspected her nails. Kara decided she did not like this woman. Something about her felt...off. It was like the air around her tasted...electric? Kara didn't know how to explain it, but she didn't like it.

"She's not armed?" Hank asked, over the intercom. Alex gestured at Kara.

“Check her for hidden weapons,” she instructed. Kara waked around Tremblay once, staring at her over her glasses. There were no hidden weapons anywhere around her. She shook her head at Alex.

"No,” Alex said to Hank, “And as far as I can tell, not dangerous," Alex added. To that, Tremblay answered with a full-out grin. It showed her teeth. Kara shifted to stand in front of Alex protectively. Alex handed Kara her gun, and walked out into the corridor again.

"What do we do, Hank?" She asked. "Do we just hand her over to the regular authorities?" Kara heard Hank's reply, something about the FBI and Interpol, but she tuned it out in favour of examining Tremblay again.

"Why did Max Lord want you so bad?" she asked. Tremblay sighed and shrugged. She slid from her knees so she was in a sitting position, sliding against the wall.

"He doesn't like to _not_ have anything,” she explained. “So when I slipped out of his hands the first time, he had to try again."

"Slipped out of his hands?” Kara scoffed. “You were convicted to three consecutive life sentences." Tremblay shrugged.

"Potatoes, potatoes," she said with a grin. She started twiddling her thumbs, clearly bored. Kara glanced behind her: Alex was talking to Marlene now, figuring out how to get Tremblay out of the embassy without drawing too much attention to him. Kara turned around and tilted her head at Tremblay.

"What did you give him?" She demanded. Tremblay shrugged,

"Some of my research,” she said absently. “I mean, he gave me unlimited access to his entire lab, so I just had some fun. He's a lot better funded than my old job." Kara raised an eyebrow.

"He's better funded than a university?" She asked in disbelief. Tremblay laughed.

"Quebecoise universities are different than yours here,” she explained patiently. “We don't try and bankrupt our students." Kara gave Tramblay an odd look. Tremblay did not take this hint to be quiet to heart. "Well, it means I couldn't afford to do the research I needed to,” she continued happily. Then she grinned at Kara. “Thank god for Max Lord." Kara sighed, disgusted, and nudged the briefcase.

"What are you selling there?" She said, trying to bring this woman back to a normal line of questioning.

"Minor little things," she said with a shrug.

"What does that mean?" Kara demanded, crossing her arms. Tremblay puffed a breath out, blowing upwards and making her fly out slightly.

"It means I'm selling things to pay my plane ticket back home," she explained. 

Kara stared at this small, strange woman. A part of her feared her more now. Now that she was a real person, with real, selfish desires that were so...human, Kara was more afraid of her. She was too full of unanswered questions.

"None of this explains why you would want to draw attention to yourself with something as theatrical as an explosion at Lord Industry,” Kara snapped. This woman was creating more questions with every answer she gave. “If you just wanted to slip away and go back to Quebec, why create that explosion?! Which could be traced exactly to you? I'm sure there were more subtle ways!"

"Not if everyone thinks you're dead." Her eyes were a bright grey, and she didn't flinch away from Kara's penetrating look. Kara could see the logic the woman was offering her, and if she accepted it, she knew it would all click into place. Tremblay thought every was dead. She thought she could revenge herself on Lord for ignoring. She thought it would have been dismissed. But….

Kara also saw the clunky flaws in that reasoning, and she concentrated back on Tremblay, shaking her head slightly. “You’re not telling me the whole story,” she snapped. Tremblay laughed.

“I don’t want to do your job for you,” she said with a grin. Kara started pacing, frustrated. 

"Why do I feel like you're lying to me?" She demanded. 

"I'm good at making people uncomfortable," she said with a shrug. "My mom always said it was my teeth." Kara's brow furrowed. Before she could really lose her temper at this insane, strange and frustrating woman, Alex entered the room again.

“Hank decided that we should take her to the police,” Alex told Kara. “The normal police. They’re sending an escort, and then come 9am tomorrow morning, INTERPOL will accompany her to Canada, where she will have to face the consequences of her actions.” Alex turned to Tremblay. “Get up.” Tremblay got up.

“Which actions?” Tremblay asked, offering Alex her wrists. Alex touched her, and drew back in surprise. Kara felt her heart stop for a second, and rushed to Alex’s side. Alex chuckled and batted her off. 

“That was an electric shock,” she told Kara with a small smile. “Just static. This room is full of it.” Kara frowned at her, but Alex just smiled at her comfortingly and cuffed Tremblay’s wrists together. 

“Which actions do I have to face the consequences to?” Tremblay demanded. Kara decided that it _was_ her teeth that made her look..ghoulish? 

“All of them,” Alex told her. Tremblay sighed, as if bored. 

“How pedestrian,” she muttered.

“Everything under control?" Alex asked over the intercom.

"We're watching exits, but no one seemed phased,” Chen responded. “The security staff have been informed and are working around us, but everything seems good." 

"Thank you, Chen."

"No problem, Squad leader." Alex turned to Kara. 

“Change into your costume,” she murmured. “We need Supergirl here when the police arrives.” Kara nodded and flitted off. "What's the ETA on that van?" Alex said into the intercom, her gaze fixed on Tremblay.

"It's pulling up right now." Morgan said briskly. "I'm accompanying the officers around to you." 

"Thank you." Alex turned towards Kara as she walked back into the room in full supergirl suit. Alex grinned at her, somehow incredibly proud. Kara shifted, and began pacing the room. Alex frowned. “Are you okay?” she asked.

"I don't know." Kara narrowed her eyes at Tremblay. "I don't feel right about this situation. There are too many pieces that don't fit." 

"We can figure those out once we're out of this place,” Alex said with a small smile, “and Tremblay is in INTERPOL hands." 

"But -" Alex smiled at her and shook her head.

"There's nothing she can do now,” she promised. “She's unarmed and handcuffed." Kara snorted.

"I believe in her creativity," she muttered quietly. 

"You give her far too much credit," Alex chastised Kara. 

"Or you don't give me enough," Tremblay said cheerfully. Alex rolled her eyes at her, and then stepped closer to Kara. 

"It's all okay, I promise," she murmured, pushing Kara's hair out of her face, and gently caressing her cheek. "We have this one. You should go home. Sleep." Kara leaned into the touch. When Alex looked at her like this, her face glowing from the adrenaline rush, and her lipstick still smudged from their kiss, she felt everything in her chest pull her towards her. As if Alex was the only thing that mattered. 

"I _am_ tired," Kara admitted quietly, trying to push down those feelings again. She shouldn't feel like this. She _shouldn't_. Alex smiled weakly. 

"Did you do your art this morning?" She asked, rubbing her thumb gently across Kara's cheek bone. Kara swallowed and shook her head. 

"No." The only image she had been able to think of, as she stood in front of her pad of paper, was Alex's angry and frustrated face from the evening at the FBI. 

"Well, you're probably still anxious from that." 

"Yeah, I suppose," Kara murmured, closing her eyes. 

"You know what mom said about your paranoia," Alex whispered, her breath ghosting across Kara’s cheek. Kara’s eyes fluttered open. 

"I know, but... well, I just can't shake the feeling that I'm missing something," she admitted quietly. 

"Honestly, that's probably a stress response,” Alex promised her. “I have that quite a lot." Kara bit her lip.

"What do you do about it?" She asked. Alex smiled wryly.

"I double check the situation," she admitted. Kara nodded, and stepped away from Alex reluctantly.

"Can I check her for weapons again?" She asked.

"I honestly don't understand why you're so worried about her,” Alex admitted, but she nodded anyway, turning towards Tremblay, “but we can do it together." 

"I just...don't like her confidence," Kara admitted. Alex snorted. 

"I have to agree with you that it is bordering on the insane." Tremblay chuckled and stood up. 

"Check away, ladies," she said happily. "Though I don't swing that way." Alex gave her a deadpan look. 

"Unnecessary," she added dryly. Kara patted up the prisoner, checked her belt line, her hair, and found nothing. She sighed. 

"I suppose I should go home," she murmured. Alex smiled and embraced Kara. Kara buried her face in Alex's hair and breathed in with a long sigh. Alex always made her feel so much better with her empathy. The problem with being an alien with severe PTSD and anxiety is that no medication can help. At first, Kara dealt with her feelings with good old fashioned repression. She tried to force everything by side, and attached herself to Alex, copying every move that Alex made with perfect precision while she tried to hold herself together. Then Alex went away to university, and Kara literally fell apart. She had to be taken out of school and go into intense therapy. Alex started coming home every fortnight to help her deal with everything. "Extreme codependency is rare but awful," a female psychiatrist sent by the DEO explained to them patiently. "Kara needs to learn to deal with all this stress on her own." Kara never really did learn. When she missed her art opportunities, or when Cat was too unpredictable and she lost the thread and everything felt like it was collapsing inward, she needed an Alex hug. An Alex hug was the drug that she had never gotten. She stepped away from Alex regretfully, her fingers lingering on Alex's arm one second longer, clinging to the warm strength and security. 

"I love you," Alex whispered, squeezing her arm lightly. Kara's heart hiccuped in her chest. She smiled sadly at Alex. 

"Can you come over tonight?" She asked.

"Please don't make sex plans in front of me. I'm a conservative, you know?" Kara blinked. She had totally forgotten about Tremblay, who was scratching the dirt from under her nails. 

"They're not _sex_ plans," Kara spluttered. Tremblay raised an eyebrow. 

"Sure, whatever." Morgan and a group of uniformed police officers men appeared at the door of the service room. Tremblay grinned. 

"Finally! Someone chain me and take me away from these people. They're awfully boring and embarrassingly sappy." Alex rolled her eyes and, with a final squeeze of Kara's hand, took charge of the situation, herding the group of officers and a handcuffed Tremblay into the car. Kara left her intercom on as she took off into the sky. It felt good hearing Marlene and Morgan argue about who was going to sit in the the car that would proceed the police van, and who was going on the accompanying motorbikes with Chen. Morgan won the coin toss they did, so Marlene was packed into the car with an uniformed police officer and Chen and Morgan rode alongside the van in motorcycles. Two officers in full SWAT gear rode in the van with the prisoner, along with Alex and PJ. Kumbi and Nebraska were left to triple check the scene and then make their own way back to base. The relieved chatter of Kumbi and Nebraska as they made their turns around the cocktail party comforted Kara, and she listened to their voices as background noises as she skimmed long clouds.

It was a cloudy evening, so Kara swooped through the clammy condensation of the clouds until she was above them. She took a deep breath of icy air, and spun around several times. The moon must have already set, but the star light this high above the city was brilliant, and Kara felt like she could absorb it all. She spread out her arms and began swooping right above the cloud layer, skimming her hands along the wet cloud, and then rushing up vertically.

"What's happening?" Alex's voice cut through the background chatter of the intercom sharply, and Kara froze mid-dive. "What are you doing?!" Alex's voice sounded panicky.

"Alex!?" Kara demanded.

"It's Tremblay!" Alex said, and her voice got slightly high-pitched. "She's -" Kara dove down. She broke through the clouds, but National City was only a cluster of lights. She pushed herself faster, her heart beating in her ears as panic rose in her throat She tasted bile as the intercom crackled with static. She could see the city’s individual streets now. Kara had just zeroed in on the van and was speeding toward it when she heard PJ scream.

"She's all purple!" he gasped. 

And then there was an explosion.

Kara watched in pure horror as the black police van exploded in a burst of purple flame. 


	4. zone of destruction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warnings for graphic description of panic attacks

For a single second, the world was devoid of sound. There was a moment of silence which hung in the air, suspending Kara while the shout, the explosion, and Alex's cry all reverberated in Kara's head. She felt each tendril of thought, she felt it in the base of her spine, and for a single second, she felt powerless. And then the world started again, and Kara dove down. No speed was fast enough. Kara needed to be down there 4 seconds ago, and while she couldn't reverse time she could go faster, _push_ time. For a single second, Kara remembered Barry, and his talk of the Speed Force and Time Travel. But then Kara pushed those thoughts out of her head. She didn’t have time for that right now. She needed to save Alex.

Kara slammed down into the asphalt. She didn't care that her too fast landing created a crater; all she cared about was Alex's limp body. She tried to hear through the ringing in her ears from the explosion, desperately tried to hear Alex's _heart_ as she rushed towards her, but she felt useless. 

The...site of the explosion was a mess. The explosion tore through the car, literally ripping the metal apart at the seams. Kara spotted the uniformed police officers first; they were wearing blue, and they were not breathing. One of them had blood dripping down his temple where he was presumably knocked out; the other one was impaled on a long, thin piece of metal. Kara looked around, frantic, desperately trying to find Alex.

Then she spotted her.

Alex was half buried under one of the car doors. Her right arm was bent at the wrong angle, twisting her entire shoulder, and there was blood dripping onto the pavement from her head. Kara gulped, and quickly pushed the edge of the car door off of Alex, snarling as she saw the metal had burned Alex's hip. She scanned Alex's body with her x-ray vision, and then immediately wished she had not. Alex's body was not in good shape.

For a second, Kara felt panicky and helpless. She stood in the remains of the car, staring down at Alex, suddenly terrified that any move she might make would hurt her. She looked around, wildly, desperate for medical professionals to arrive and to tell her what to do. But it had only been 20 seconds since the explosion, and not a single person had reacted yet. This was all on Kara. She clenched her jaw, and considered what would be her best decision.

Her hearing returned slowly.

Vasquez was shouting into the earpiece. Kara took it out and threw it away. She needed to focus. She needed to get Alex to the DEO _immediately_ , she needed emergency care. She heard Alex's heartbeat, quick and desperate, at a speed that was dangerous to sustain.

No time for the DEO. Kara grabbed the car door and, with a small wrench, straightened it out again. She ripped her cloak off her shoulder, wrapped Alex in it, and carefully laid her on the plastic side of the door.

"Kara?" Hank landed next to Kara with a thump in his full Martian get up. Kara didn't even glance at him.

"Alex is fading," she told him as she made sure Alex's head wasn't lolling against the plastic too much. "I'm taking her to the hospital." She bent up the edges of the car door again, so Alex's unconscious body was lying in the valley between the two metal sides. The plastic cracked loudly, but Kara ignored it. 

"Go," Hank said. "I'll track down Tremblay." Kara didn't even think about the statement; she just took off. She flew in the direction of National City's hospital with the best trauma care; thank god being Supergirl for the last six months allowed her to know exactly where that was. 

Kara landed in the parking lot gently this time, though she sped into the hospital through the emergency entrance primarily reserved for ambulances.

"She was just in a car accident and needs urgent care," Kara called, pushing Alex towards a nurse in her cocoon made out of plastic and metal. A nurse flinched away, and Kara realised the metal was still hot. She looked down at her hands, and realised they were burnt. She ignored it, pulling Alex out of the cocoon and putting her on the hospital bed the nurse pushed towards her.

"She's unresponsive," a nurse said.

"Blood pressure dropping," another nurse agreed.

"Page Doctor Quinn,"

"You have to save her," Kara begged a nurse. 

"Please, Supergirl," a third nurse said, putting one hand on Kara's shoulder. "We do our best. Are there any more victims of the car crash? You could use your makeshift stretcher to bring them to us? It was an amazing idea." Kara felt wild. She couldn't tell if the loud thumping she was hearing was her own heartbeat, or Alex's. She took a deep breath, and nodded at the woman.

"Just save her," she whispered. The woman smiled sadly, and jogged back to where the other nurses were wheeling the bed with a dirty, bloody and burnt Alex away.

Kara stared down the corridor for a second, before, right at the edge of her hearing, she heard Hank. He only said her name once, but he said it loud enough, consciously enough, so that she would hear it. Kara breathed out, turned on her heel and walked back out of the hospital, willing every stone in the building to protect Alex. 

She landed next to Hank with a smack; she felt the pavement ripple underneath her angrily, but she didn’t care. She didn’t feel like treating the world delicately today. It doesn’t deserve it.

"Is Alex okay!?" Hank demanded as Kara strode towards him. Kara registered somewhere at the back of her mind that Hank was _Hank_ again, not J’onn, but she couldn’t really focus on it now. She just stared past him, at the four body bags uniformed officers were slowly loading into a morgue car.

"She escaped?" she asked quietly. "Tremblay escaped?" Hank's lips thinned.

"She detonated an explosion. It turns out that _she_ was the explosive device. PJ and the Interpol officers and the driver were all dead on impact." He tilted his head at her, clearly turning his statement into a question about Alex again. Kara met his eye for a brief second and then looked away.

"Alex's heart was still beating when I gave her to the nurses," she whispered, surprised how raw her voice sounded. She swallowed. Hank laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and waited patiently until she was ready to meet his eye again.

"She'll get through this," he promised. Kara’s eyes shifted to the edge of the scene. There was a row of ambulances, and a small cry brought her attention to them. Morgan was leaning against one, sobbing while a paramedic pushed her dislocated shoulder back into place. Chen was standing next to her, looking at her anxiously. He had his own bandage all around the right side of his face, and he was wearing an aluminum blanket. Morgan’s small shriek of pain tore through Kara for a moment, and she turned back to Hank, fury burning through her system with new vigour.

"Where is Tremblay?" She demanded quietly. Hank frowned.

"She must have disappeared in the crowd," he admitted. Kara gritted her teeth.

"I need to find her," she snapped.

"I don't think you can, Supergirl," Hank warned, the comforting hand on her shoulder becoming a restraint. Kara shrugged Hank off and glared at him.

"I _will_ find her, and kill her," she snarled. 

"Supergirl," Hank said, his brow furrowing, “you can’t -”

"She can't hide in my city for much longer," Kara snapped and made to turn on her heels. Hank grabbed her hand.

"Kara!” He hissed. Kara looked up, surprised at the use of her name. Hank’s face softened. “Go back to the hospital," he murmured.

"What?" Kara asked, bewildered.

"You're not needed here anymore, Supergirl.” Hank said the words with such finality while he stepped back, that Kara looked around. Had someone approached them? Heard them? No. She narrowed her eyes at Hank. Hank shook his head. “Go to Alex's side. Call your mother. Make sure Alex is okay."

"Hank -" Kara began stepping forward.

“That’s an _order_.” His voice was low and threatening, and suddenly Kara felt relived. She needed to hear someone give her _direction,_ tell her what to do. She looked around and began protesting half heartedly.

“But the others -” Hank shook his head.

"No.” He said with finality. “Go. I can handle this. Go take care of Alex first." Kara swallowed, and then nodded.

"Yes sir," she smiled shakily and catapulted herself back into the air. Her apartment was on the way to the hospital, so she could change, and then go and wait for Alex.

In the shows and the books and the movies, they always say that the worst thing is sitting in the waiting room. the unknowability, the pure terror of waiting to hear whether or not the scales of life have tipped in your favour…

Where the books really like focusing on the pain of ignorance, Kara discovered something worse. Sitting in the waiting room and listening to Alex die twice.

The first time Alex's heart stopped beating was when she was being rolled into the operating theatre. A nurse shouted, people amassed, more people shouted, and through it all there was just the deafening beep that indicated Alex's heart was not beating. They brought her back the third time they attacked her heart with electricity, and by the time Kara heard the unsteady and erratic beat of Alex's heart again, her hands were shaking and she'd thrown up all over the waiting room floor. She was alone, so the woman at the reception sighed, brought her a waste basket and called the janitor to clean up the small puddle of sick. Kara closed her eyes and rested her elbow on her knees and just tried to count backwards from a nine thousand and four hundred and twelve in kryptonian. The familiar words, said in time to an erratic and sometimes desperate beat, made the room stop spinning, though the fear coiled like a snake in Kara's stomach didn't stop.

The second time Alex's heart stopped beating, Hank was there with her. Hank, Marlene and Vasquez had sat down next to Kara throughout the night, each one trying to talk to her.

She didn’t hear any of them. When she stilled, and sat, tense and confused at the loud monotone again, Hank squeezed Kara's hand. She paled as the loud monotone continued, and retched into the bin still sitting next to her. She hadn't eaten, so all that came out was clear bile, but it was too much. 

Hank told her it would be alright, a quiet comforting lie while the monotone of Alex's not beating heart ripped through Kara's consciousness. She felt the world around her lose colour as the silence gaped. Doctors shouted, a nurse called "charge" and there was electricity. "Again." Kara doubled over. She couldn't take this anymore. She began shivering as her breath came out in panicky intervals and she gagged again. Hank stroked her back, whispering calming nonsense, Marlene squeezed Kara’s shoulder, but Kara barely noticed it. Her entire existence was too focused on the operating theatre, on Alex's heart within her fragile human chest, and willed it, begged it, ordered it, to continue beating.

And then it did.

Sometime during the night, Eliza arrived,. She looked ashen and clung to Hank, but Kara could barely look at her. Curled over herself in pure anguish, Kara just acknowledged her presence with a nod. 

"Stop listening," Eiza whispered, wiping the tears from Kara's face. But Kara couldn't stop. It was as if her entire existence hung by a thread, and some was constantly trying to cut it with a kryptonite sword, swiping wildly at her.

It was a dumb analogy, but those seven hours in the waiting room? Kara couldn't come up with anything better. When Dr. Quinn finally came out of the theatre, the small surgeon looked exhausted. Kara could see that her hands were shaking, and if she had not been able to hear Alex's steady heartbeat, she would have been worried.

"We've managed to stabilize her," Quinn whispered. "She's in the ICU now, but her heart isn't beating without the machines, and she needs assistants breathing. She's slipped into a coma, and I don't know what I can tell you about the odds." Kara was too exhausted. She just got up and walked towards the surgeon, until she was towering over her. The surgeon, to her credit, didn't step back. She just met Kara's gaze.

"Where's Alex?" Kara whispered. Her voice was hoarse, but she didn't care.

"Can we see her?" Eliza added, grabbing Kara's arm. Kara didn't even notice the move.

"Room 57," Quinn said quietly. Behind her, Kara heard Quinn stop Marlene and Vasquez. "Only immediate family," she explained to them. Kara marched off the second that Quinn nodded and pointed towards the right. She marched down the hallway with Hank and Eliza following her meekly.

Alex looked so small in the bed. There were tubes sticking out of her, a gas mask over her mouth and nose, and a breathing machine working for her. Kara ignored all of the machinery and grabbed Alex's non bandaged arm. She gave her a quick once over; Alex was battered and bruised. Most of her ribs were broken, there was at least one acute spinal injury, her leg was broken in three separate places and her shoulder blade was a mess. One of her arms was broke twice, though the second break was alone a familiar, already susceptible faultline in her bone structure.

Kara pulled the closest plastic chair and sat down next to Alex. "You can't-" A nurse started, but Kara sent her a glare. The nurse flinched, and turned to Eliza.

"This is an ICU facility,” she told her testily. “She can't just sit here." Eliza ignored her.

"She's stabilized, isn't she?" She asked, instead. The nurse huffed.

"Yes, of course she is," she snapped.

"Can I see her charts? Her x-rays?" Eliza asked.

"Are you a doctor?" The nurse asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I'm a scientist." Eliza replied, crossing her arms confrontationally. The nurse’s brow furrowed.

"Then they won't make much sense to you, ma'am," she pointed out.

"Please?" The nurse examined Eliza's face, and then glanced at Dr. Quinn who had followed them into the room. Dr. Quinn nodded slowly and gestured that Eliza should follow her. Hank just stood at the end of Alex's bed, looking down at her fragile human form.

"Is she going to be okay, Hank?" Kara asked quietly. Hank sighed.

"She's in a coma, Kara," he said, his voice low. Kara looked between Alex’s immobile body, and Hank.

"We have to save her,” she whispered. “We have to do something." She turned to Hank and focused her eyes on him, pleading. Hank sighed and spread his arms.

"We work with extraterrestrial creatures Kara,” he murmured, “but that doesn't mean we can induce magic healing in a human." Kara looked at Alex again. Her skin looked far too pale against the white hospital sheets.

"There must be something,” she said decisively. “A creature we can use. A prisoner from Fort Raz. Anything." Hank sighed.

"Kara," he said in his soft, calming voice. But Kara brushed him off, turning back to the bed and staring at the Alex’s chest and it rose and and fell with the breathing machine.

"I have to protect her, Hank," she muttered, tracing the lines of the tape on Alex’s face where the breathing mask was kept in place.

"Kara -" Hank began again, but Kara twisted around in her seat, anger suddenly bubbling out of her.

"This is my fault, Hank,” she hissed. “You can see that, right? This is all my fault. Alex would never have become a DEO agent if it weren’t for me. She would never have…” Kara’s breath caught in her throat, and she stared up at the tiled hospital ceiling. “If I had protected her better..." She tried again, but her voice faded.

"She's a grown woman, Kara -" Hank began, stepping towards her. Kara stood up abruptly, and her chair fell back,

"And she's my sister," she sobbed. She hadn’t realised there were tears running down her face until she felt her chest constrict again, and she let out another pitiful sob. Hank wavered, and then tried to reach out to her again.

"I know what you're feeling right now -" He tried again, his voice still calm.

"No you don't!” Kara snapped, pushing away his arm. “You don't have any idea."

"Kara -" Hank began again, but Kara just pushed past him and stalked to the door.

"Alex was just trying to protect me. She came along on this whole venture to protect me. She became a fucking _agent_ to protect me. And here she is, dying, because of me. You have no idea what that feels like, Hank." Hank just lowered his head, and Kara's conscience pricked her. A nurse rushed into the room before Kara could do anything about that.

"Out," she snapped, yanking open the door and gesturing at Kara. "Out _now_.” Kara blinked at her, surprised. “You're in an ICU, you can't just _shout_ ," the woman hissed. “I’m throwing you out.”

"No, you can't -" Kara begins, but the nurse grabs her wrist.

"I can remove you,” she hisses, and yanks, “and I am.” Kara stumbles forward, mainly for effect, though the woman _is_ surprisingly strong. “Don't make me use force." Hank nods at her, and grabs Kara’s shoulder, steering her out.

"Good night, Ma'am," he says respectfully as he pushes Kara past her.

"Don't let anything bad happen to her," Kara snapped, as if everything was in this small nurse's control. The nurse just shot her a glare, and went in to check on Alex. 

Kara stalked down the hallway until she burst into the waiting room. Marlene and Vasquez both jumped up, panic welling in their eyes.

"Is she okay?" Marlene demanded. Kara was surprised; Marlene was nearly grey faced, and her hands were quivering. Kara gently put one hand on top of Marlene’s.

"They threw me out because I shouted at Hank," she told her quietly.

"What?" Vasquez asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're going to the DEO now." Kara explained to both of them.

“I’m waiting for Eliza,” Hank told them, and sat down in one of the plastic chairs. Kara shrugged and walked towards the exit. Marlene fell into step next to Kara.

"What's happening?" Vasquez asked, jogging to keep up with them.

“Alex is in a coma, so we need to figure out a way to save her,” Kara explained. Marlene’s lip thinned.

“You want to abuse the power of the DEO?” she asked. Kara scoffed.

“Yes,” she said simply. Marlene stared at her for a moment longer, and then nodded. They stepped out of the hospital, and Kara glanced around, as if she was about to fly. Marlene put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, and gestured towards her car.

“I’ll drive,” she said simply. Kara bit her lip, and nodded. They piled into the car; Vasquez sitting shot gun and Kara in the back, and drove off in silence.

"I have an idea." Kara looked at Vasquez. and Vasquez slowly turned around in her seat. "It's an insane idea," she added quickly. Kara laughed humorlessly.

"I like that," she said simply. 

"You know how Bizzarro was super?" Vasquez asked tentatively. Kara’s brow furrowed.

"Yes."

"Including her super healing?” Kara tilted her head, so Vasquez quick added: “It failed her at the end, but she definitely had it."

"Okay," Kara said, pulling out the phrase.

"We could give Alex her gene."

"But I thought -" Marlene interrupted.

“The problem was,” Vasquez added quickly, barrelling over Marlene, “we didn’t understand how to bind the gene to an already stable human chromosome, but somehow, Plastique managed to do something like that. Chen has been at the lab with Erik and Hanna and they have some...thoughts.”

“Are you saying it's possible?”

“I’m saying we can try it.”

Hank stared at Kara. “No,” he whispered. Kara tried to read his face. There was a combination of horror and fear as he stared at her. Kara glanced at the computer screen, and then back at Hank.

“She’s going to die!” She cried, desperate. She didn’t understand. She glanced at the computer.There was Alex’s research, loud and clear. _This mysterious chromosome made Bizarro ‘super’_.

“We don’t know that,” Hank said quietly.

“Hank!” Kara hissed. “I’m showing you _data_ here. And you heard the doctor same as I did! _Little to no chance of survival_.”

“And?” Hank asked, his voice rough. “There are a thousand stories of humans who are told they are going to die, and then pulling through.” Kara stared at him,

“Alex can’t even breathe on her own,” she whispered. Hank lifted his chin in defiance. 

“She might one day,” she said stubbornly. Kara felt the edge of hysteria creep into her voice, but she couldn’t help it.

“Or she’s going to slip into a coma,” she said, the pitch and volume of her voice rising steadily, “and we’ll have lost her forever.” Hank’s shoulder sagged slightly, and Kara advanced, using this weakness. “She could die any second Hank, slip away from us while we sat her arguing about whether or not saving her life was _worth it_.” Hank frowned.

“You can’t just inject her with some mysterious substance because -” He began.

“Why not, Hank?” Kara shouted. “I’m _Supergirl_.” Hank stiffened again.

“What is that supposed to mean?” He asked, his voice quiet and dangerous. Kara stared at him, confused for a beat. She took a deep breath.

“It means, that if anything were to go wrong,” she replied, her voice equally steady, “I could stop her.” Hank recrossed his arms.

“No you couldn’t,” he said steadily.

“What?” Kara asked. He was being so calm. So quiet. So rational. That’s not what Kara wanted. Kara wanted a car to beat. She wanted to scream, shout, burn down a building, but really, all she wanted, was save Alex. Kara balled her hand in fists.

“What if Alex turns into a different version of herself?” Hank asked quietly.

“Any version of Alex is better than this,” Kara snarled. Hank looked her in the eye steadily, and then changed his line of attack.

“We don’t have a right to chose over life and death, Kara,” he murmured. Kara scoffed.

“And I don’t want to chose,” She snapped. “I want to give Alex a fighting chance to chose herself.” Hank uncrossed his arms and snorted in exasperation. 

“Kara,” he demanded, “think about what you’re _doing_.”

“I’m _saving Alex_ ,” Kara screamed. It was like _no one_ understood. None of this for her. All of this was for Alex. She spun away so she wasn’t looking at Hank anymore.

“What if this ...decision has consequences that we can’t predict?” Hank murmured quietly. “Would you rather risk the safety of National City in order to save Alex?” The second Hank asked the question, it was clear he realised that he shouldn’t have done it. 

“A world without Alex -” She stopped herself. She took a deep breath, she steadied her shoulders and she turned around to look at Hank again. “There is nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for Alex. She entered my brain to save me, Hank. I’m going to break a rule to save her.”

“It’s more complicated than that. There could be consequences.”

“Alex and I would face those together.”

“What if she dies, because of this?”

“She could die if there was a power outage right now. I would feel the same as if she died now.”

“Kara, please -”

“I’m going to do it.”

“Vazquez and Alex didn’t have all the information yet! They were still trying to map things! You can’t just take this and hope her _unproven hypothesis_ was correct!”

“I don’t care.” Kara unballed her fists and flexed her hand. “I don’t care what happens, Hank. I won’t just make her go through this on her own.”

“That’s not what you’re doing, Kara.”

“Look, Alex was there for me when my world died. Alex taught me how to...be human. She taught me _everything I know_ , Hank. She accepted me, she loved, and that’s what I needed. Alex was there for me when Astra made me believe the world was going to end again. Alex has never left me on my own, and she would do this for me too.”

“Just because Alex would do it, doesn’t mean it's the good decision.” Kara laughed here, though it was a humourless cold laugh.

“That’s where we disagree,” she said stiffly. She made to walk away, but Hank grabbed her hand.

“Let’s go give this data some of the techs. Have them look. Make sure that you’re compatible.” His acquiescence almost felt like approval.

It took four days.

Four _long_ days, in which Alex’s chest rose and fell, and the machine next to her inhale and exhaled, and Kara listened to the small, regular beat of Alex’s heart. Doctors promises Kara that Alex’s body was healing, that flesh was slowly, ever so slowly, knitting back together again. Small wounds were scabbing over, and then breaking open again.

One of the ribs had stabbed Alex’s lung. Kara watched as nurses fussed, and blood was extracted, and Alex was saved again.

And once again, Kara watched helpless.

An infection developed. The doctors grew worried, agitated, frustrated. Before Kara’s anger and frustration could spill over, force her to a boiling point, Vasquez called.

She had a solution.

Vasquez fidgeted when Kara came in. Kara recognized the signs of sleep deprivation, but she was too far gone to ask anything. She just tilted her head at Vasquez.

“We -” she cleared her throat, and started again. “We cracked it.”

“Will it save Alex?” Kara asked, watching Vasquez intently. Vasquez glanced at the other female scientist, probably Hanna.

“We...don’t know,” she admitted quietly. Kara stiffened.

“What?” She asked quietly. Vasquez swallowed.

“It’s complicated,” she said, her voice hoarse again.

“Explain it to me,” Kara replied. Vasquez glanced at Hank.

"There is an element of morality to this, if I understand correctly," Hank asked, his voice calm and steady, turning to Vasquez. Vasquez swallowed, but squared her shoulders and nodded.

"Yes, sir. Agent Danvers' hypothesis was that _only_ people with an incredibly strong mind, and a stronger moral compass, could survive the potentially mind altering effect of the chromosome."

“That’s Alex,” Kara said decisively.

“Kara,” Hank began, but Kara cut him off.

“Alex will be fine,” she said with a wave of her hand. Hank clenched his jaw.

“What if she isn’t?” He asked patiently. Kara met his gaze.

"She _will be fine_ ," she repeated, her tone icier.

"Kara -" Hank tired again, but Kara spun towards Vasquez.

"How's this;” she said, waving her arm. “We combine the chromosome with my blood." Hanna and Vasquez exchanged a glance.

"What?" Hanna asked tentatively.

"It will give her a boost, right?” Kara asked. “Having something that will enhance her, as well as something that could save her life."

"Well, we don't know -" Hanna began, but Hank cut her off.

"That's the entire problem, Kara,” he said steadily. “We have no information. I refuse to allow you to make decisions about Alex's life without any knowledge."

"Eliza?" Eliza looked up from where she was sitting, face in her hands. Kara's heart clenched in her chest. Eliza looked exactly as awful as Kara felt. She had circle under her eyes, her eyes were puffy, and she looked sick. Kara swallowed, and then tilted her head at Eliza.

"Eliza?" She tried again. "What do you think we should do?"

“Only give her the chromosome, to start off with. And if she has a bad reaction, transfer some blood.”

“Eliza -”

“I stand with Kara on this one. We have to save my daughter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would apologise for the late update, but all time is relative and i'm just a very small, very tired bub. also, i don't love how this chapter turned out? but that's partially bc Alex is my fave character 2 write, and well...she's in a coma....


	5. override function

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so proud of myself for publishing this chapter before root and shaw have sex on person of interest, bc odds are im going to be a Wreck for at least a week now.

Kara was sitting in the command center of the DEO, scanning the news-feeds for any reports of disasters, crimes, or fires. It was a slow news night in National City; Kara cursed the city for all its law abiding citizens. She needed a distraction, something that would keep her mind drifting back, always back, to that small hospital room in Our Lady Savior Hospital on 13th Blvd. It had been exactly a week, and National City had been dangerously quiet while Alex continued to float in her coma. Every morning at 8am sharp, when visitors were allowed to enter the ICU again, Kara would be there. Winn had appeared on her third day, distraught and stressed. Ms. Grant had granted Kara a temporary leave of absence, forcing him to be her newest assistant, and he didn't know what to do.

Kara couldn't help him. And he looked between the bed, where Alex was dwarfed by tubes and needles, and re-contextualized his own pain.

James came to sit with her during his lunch break on the fourth day. He brought Alex a bunch of flowers, and asked if Kara wanted to talk about it. She leaned against his shoulder, but remained silent.

Kara felt like if she opened her mouth, she would drown. She needed to.. continue. She needed to never stop.

So every evening at 6pm, when she was escorted out of the ICU by nurses who had begun to feel sorry for her, Kara would change into her costume, and fly. 

At first she flew around the world, eating at her favorite restaurants, desperate for her a distraction.

But all food tasted like ash, so Kara returned to national cities, to fly infuriating circles, looking for something to punch. National City didn't deliver, so Kara started sitting in the DEO.

She had tried hovering around Vasquez, to see how the drug was coming along, but Vasquez shooed her out for hovering. So Kara was stuck reading police reports, watching the police try and solve murders that the DEO had ruled "caused by alien life forms." She found that the DEO had a trace on one specific FBI agent who was convinced that a bunch of (non-alien) occult murders 29 miles from National City were alien related, and she got a brief glimpse of joy reading his incident reports. 

But nothing made her as happy as when Vasquez stepped into the room on the seventh night and said in a hoarse voice: "It's all done."

Kara was in the laboratory before Vasquez even had time to turn around. She stared at the small vial of medicine. It was milky white, and looked innocuous. Kara looked around at the room of scientist. She took in the dark rings under their eyes, their sagging stances, and the sniffles of people catching a cold due to exhaustion. She looked back down at the vial, suddenly flooded with shame that she made these people do this.

"We've decided to produce the medicine pure, on its own. But you will need to be there when we administer it."

"Why?"

"If this is... too much- for her system to bare, we're gonna give her some of your blood."

"Okay." Kara knew that Vasquez left a beat here for her, a moment for her to question it. To say "why?" or "how will it work" or "what are the after effects," but Kara stayed silent. She knew this was a risk. Bizarro's face still haunted her some night, with her face cracked and black veins shining through her skin.

But Kara also knew, without really thinking about it too much, that she needed to save Alex. Alex, who had flown into /space for Kara, who had killed a man for Kara, who had done everything for Kara, needed saving. And this was the only way Kara could do it.

"Let's do it then," she whispered. "Do we bring Alex here?"

"It's probably easier to do it at the hospital," Hanna admitted with a shrug. Vasquez frowned.

"We'd need her doctor's cooperation, then," she said thoughtfully. Kara clenched her jaw. She knew that Dr. Quinn would not approve of this.

"But we don't need her approval, right?" She asked. Vasquez nodded, rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hand as she answered.

"As long as we have your mothers and your approval," she bit back a yawn, "there is nothing she can do."

"Good, let's go then."

"I think Vasquez needs a nap. And I wouldn't mind one either. We can only see Alex in the morning, anyway." Kara was itching to move. She sighed and sat down on one of the lab stools, suddenly deflated.

"You're right," she muttered. Hanna smiled and placed a quick hand on her shoulder before she and the rest of the staff filed out. Kara was left alone, staring at the small vile. 

Dr. Quinn stared at Kara. Rays of sunlight, still pink from the sunrise, made her dark hair look bright, but Kara didn’t let herself be distracted. The hospital room was quiet except for the small beeps for Alex’s machines. Kara listened to the steady, regular breathing of Vasquez and Hanna behind her, allowing their bodies to ground her in the moment, forcing her to be present.

"This is the only thing we can think of," she whispered quietly. Dr. Quinn just continued to stare. Kara gulped. "I know this is hard to believe -"

"It's because it's a lie," Dr. Quinn snapped. "There are no such things are miracle cures, and I know about every experimental drug in circulation. You may be convinced, Ms. Danvers, but I can see this is a scam." Kara clenched her teeth.

"It's not a -"

"Have you seen this work?” Dr. Quinn snapped, holding up the clear vile with the milky cure in exaspertation. “Work on another woman in a coma? With the exact symptoms of your sister?" She looked annoyed, and angry, as if Kara was wasting her time. Kara felt rage bubble up in her throat, threatening to suffocate her. This woman knew _nothing_ of the real world, yet she dared to stand her and pretend as if anything she said even had a shimmer of truth. Kara breathed out through her nose steadily. This was not the time for anger.

"Nothing else is working," she said, trying to surpress all the anger in her voice. Dr. Quinn laughed hollowly.

"Conventional medicine, like the human body,” she explained patronizingly, “is slow, Ms. Danvers."

"Slow?!” Kara snapped, her anger breaking. She clenched her fists and glared at this doctor. “Nothing has happened. It's been a week!! If the power went out -" Her voice broke. 

"Our backup generators would ensure your sister would consider to live," Dr. Quinn filled in serenly. Kara scoffed.

"This is not living," she disagreed, gesturing at Alex’s machines that breathed for her, and monitored her heart rate.

"But injecting her with a miracle cure this woman is selling you, is living?" Dr. Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow. Vasquez coughed.

"I'm a scientist, Ma'am," She interjected dryly.

"I don't care who you are, you are lying," Dr. Quinn snapped. “Again, Ms. Danvers, I beg you -”

"Ma'am -" Vasqeuz tried to interrupt.

"No. You can't -" Dr. Quinn began again.

"I can override your decision," Kara snapped. Dr Quinn rolled her eyes. 

"Of course you can,” she said narrowing her eyes at Kara. “And I will be at your sister's side when you inject her with that poison, because I am her doctor, not her keeper. But I inisit that you listen to reason, Ms Danvers. This is -" Kara gritted her teeth and straightened up.

"No. I don't want to hear it,” she said, assuming the edge of ice that Ms. Grant always infused her voice with when she wanted to stop doubters. She took a deep breath, and looked at Dr. Quinn steadily, meeting her gaze. “I want my sister back again."

"The human body -" Dr. Quinn began, but Kara interrupted her.

"Is delicate, and could die at any moment," she finished icyly. Dr. Quinn scoffed.

"We all suffer knowing our mortality, Ms. Danvers,” she said derisively. Kara clenched her jaw again, forcing stillness into her body. Dr. Quinn had no idea; Kara didn’t _care_ about her own mortality. She didn’t _care_ about dying, about hurting herself, about falling. She cared about _Alex_. But Dr. Quinn didn’t understand, and she continued talking as if any of her words would have an effect on Kara. “Imagine the pain it would cause you if your sister died because of this -" 

"I can't be in any more pain that I already am.” Kara’s statement cut through Dr. Quinn’s suggestions, and she paused to stare at Kara, clearly taken aback by the hardened tone of her voice. Kara held Dr. Quinn’s gaze for another second, and then turned to Hanna. “Hanna, prep the serum."

"Ms. Danvers.” Kara didn’t look up. Dr. Quinn stepped forward, laying one hand on top of Kara’s. “Kara. Please -" Kara pulled back, and smiled humourlessly at Dr. Quinn.

"This is going to work," she said, and walked to the head of the bed. Dr. Quinn sighed, and let her go. Kara recognised a look of disappointment, and her insides twisted, but she pushed it away. Dr. Quinn may be disappointed with her, but that was a small price to pay for Alex. 

Dr Quinn insisted that Eliza was there too, but Eliza backed up Kara. Surprisingly.

"Bring her back," Eliza said. "I don't care what it takes. Don't let me lose her." Kara just bowed her head. Hank shifted nervously. Kara glanced back at him, and realised that the medical staff was trying to take the prompt from him. "Do it now," she snapped at Dr. Quinn. "Do it right now." Dr. Quinn glanced at Hank, clearly hoping that he would offer some resistance.

"Sir?" She prompted. "Permission granted." Those two words reverberated in Kara's head as she felt almost light-headed. One of the doctors gently pushed Eliza out of the way, and Kara went over and let Eliza clutch her. "Clear the room," one of the doctors said. Eliza started crying quietly. Kara looked at Hank, her eyes gaunt. She didn't have any space, any room, for empathy. Eliza's pain grated on her as theatric, and untrue. Eliza wouldn't have died for Alex, and Kara felt she knew this as a fact. Something of her scorn seemed to cross her face, because Hank reached forward to assure Eliza. "We should leave," he whispered. "You too," Dr. Quinn snapped, looking at Kara. Kara scoffed. "No." The doctor narrowed her eyes at her, and Kara slunk off into the far corner of the room; a compromise, but not an agreement. She wasn't going to leave Alex's side ever. "This is not going to be fun to watch," the doctor said clippedly. Kara gritted her teeth, crossed her arms, and stood her ground. She was going to stand here, and make sure they saved Alex.

Hanna stepped into the room wearing surgical gear; Kara hadn’t even noticed her leave, but was happy for her to come back. She stepped next to Dr. Quinn and handed her the small vile, while the nurses started switching off one machine after the other. Kara watched as time seemed to slow; Hanna put the ...substancein a needle, measuring it carefully. She slowly injected it into the IV, and watched Alex’s heart rate monitor.

It didn’t change.

They waited, in baited silence, for first seconds, and then minutes. Dr. Quinn even reached forward to check Alex’s heart beat on her wrist, suddenly gripped with a distrust of the machine. But Kara could hear Alex’s heart beat. unchanged. She got up.

“Give her more,” she told Hanna angrily. Hanna’s brow furrowed.

“Kara -” She began quietly. Kara interrupted her, keeping her voice quiet and icy as she repeated the command, leaving a long pause between each phrase.

“Give. Her. More.” Hanna shook her head, about to protest, when it happened.

For an entire millisecond, the room was suddenly _deathly_ silent, before the loud monotone beep announced the unthinkable; Alex’s heart had stopped beating.

“She’s crashing,” Dr. Quinn snapped, and pushed Hanna out of the way.

“But I didn’t give her more…” Hanna started, but Dr. Quinn was already untying Alex’s hospital gown and bearing her chest for the paddles.

"I'm compatible." The words were lost in the calls for nurses and medical staff, so Kara shouted the phrase again. "Give Alex _my_ blood. She said we're compatible."

“

"Dr.Quinn?" She looked at her. The scrutiny in her gaze was unmistakeable. "We're losing her fast Ma’am," the nurse said. Dr. Quinn glanced between the nurse and Kara, then nodded. "Do it," she decided. Kara was rolling up her sleeve before he even finished the second syllable, prepping her arm for the kryptonian tipped needle that Hanna wordlessly handed her. She glanced at Alex's face. This had to work. She watched the small narrow tube tinge red as her blood poured from her body into Alex’s. She listened for precious seconds as Dr. Quinn shouted “clear,” and electricity shot into Alex’s body, and her heart was injected with adrenaline.

Alex took a long, shuddering breath.

Alex hadn’t really woken up. She had regained conciousness for a second, cried out, and then fallen back again, but she wasn’t in a coma anymore. Her brain patterns were normal. Dr. Quinn claimed it was coincidence, the medicine had nothing to do with it.

Hanna admitted that she didn’t know.

Kara didn’t care.

She just settled down in the cheap armchair next to Alex, more than happy to wait.

As Kara sat in the hospital bed, her hand entwined with Alex's limp one, she thought about that dumb Superman movie. There were so many fictionalizations of his life, and when Kara was a new immigrant, Alex had sat next to her as she insisted on watching them over and over again. The film had a plot point of Superman's love interest dying, and because Superman couldn't do anything about it, he just turned back time by flying in the reverse direction of the world's rotation. "That wouldn't work," a haughty Alex told Kara. Kara blinked and adjusted her new glasses. "Why not?" She had asked, gazing up at Alex. Alex sniffed.

"Time doesn't work like that. It's...relative." Kara frowned.

"But I was stuck in a pod without anyone to relate to, and time still passed," she pointed out. Alex frowned at her. "Well, that was different." "How so?" "Well, earth's time doesn't work that way." "Earth time is different to Kryptonian time?!" "Obviously. I mean, did you even have watches?" Kara shook her head. Alex nodded wisely, as if that proved a point. "I knew it. A different kind of time." Now, Kara wished she could turn into that ridiculous puffed-up Superman character. She wanted to fly around the world faster even than the Flash, and save Alex. Offer her a lift home. Kill Tremblay. Whatever it took. If only she could do it again. She gripped Alex's hand harder, and then immediately realized her mistake and lessened the pressure. Alex slept on.

All that Kara could do was sit here and listen to Alex's heart beat, and wait.

Waiting has never been her strong suit.

Kara starts counting backwards from three thousand two hundred. It doesn't help. She glanced towards the door. None of the nurses have checked in on Alex's recently, partially because her vitals are steady, and partially because Kara thinks it makes them uncomfortable to see her here in her vigil. She glanced at the door one more time, and carefully climbed into Alex's bed. It was a complicated maneuver; Kara needed to lift up Alex's arm to slide underneath it so she didn't disturb any tubes, and then she needed to lie down, feather light on the surface of the bed so she didn't disturb Alex. but Kara made it, draping Alex's non-broken arm over her, and breathing in the smell of disinfectant, dried blood and the tiniest, most subtle smell of Alex that was almost lost to everything else. 

But Alex was still here. And she'd make it. Kara was convinced of it.

Kara knew the minute Alex woke up. She was on the other side of the building, talking about an action plan with Hank when she felt the energy shift. Suddenly, there was _something_ new, and Kara just _knew_. She was in the middle of a sentence when she caught her breath, and just left. Hank blinked, and then followed her.

Alex's eyes were still fluttering open, and the two medical technicians were there, fussing about her. She seemed to notice Kara's presence though; the room felt warmer, more welcoming the second she walked in, and when Kara locked eyes with Alex, she knew something had changed. Alex tried to speak, but her throat was dry, and it came out as a rasp. Before the nurses had even had a single second to react, Kara was offering Alex some tap water. Alex drank it with small tenative sips, and then turned to Kara.

"What happened?" she whispered hoarsely. Supergirl opened her mouth; she wanted to explain. She wanted to explain everything, but she just felt overwhelmed with a wave of relief suddenly. She didn’t realise how _scared_ she was that she would never hear Alex’s voice again, until she heard it. She didn’t realise how much _she needed_ Alex; she hadn’t let herself even think about it. But now Alex was back. Kara began tearing up.

"You nearly died,” Hank explained to Alex, allowing Kara to just stand there and look at her. “Then Supergirl saved you." Alex held out a hand to Kara, who immediately took it. Hank smiled at them, and then tilted towards the door. 

“I’m going to go talk to Dr. Quinn,” he said. “I’ll leave you two alone.” Kara watched Hank leave and frowned as he met Vasquez in the doorway. Kara looked at her, confused for a moment, before she realised she was holding a chart. "She's just waking up," Kara mouthed at her. Vasquez nodded. She pursed her lips. “You should read this,” she mouthed to Kara before silently placing the chart at the end of the bed, and then left. Kara glanced at the chart for a second, and then looked back at Alex, who was blinking rapidly, trying to get her eyes used to the light. Kara bit her lip and pushed back Alex’s hair carefully. Alex turned to look at her.

"How do you feel?" Kara whispered. Alex licked her lips. "Weird," she whispered. "Injured weird?" "No. I feel like...my ribs are itching. My arm is just outright throbbing, and my hip is burning." "Do you want more morphine?" Kara asked, half getting up, her hand already on the morphine press. Alex waved her off with her non-broken arm. "No," she murmured. "All the pain is kind of like background noise." "It's still pain though," Kara pointed out.

"It's pain to remind me I'm still alive." Kara frowned.

"Alex-" Kara started, but Alex just smiled and kissed Kara's hand. 

"I think the pain is there because all the injuries in my body are healing," she whispered. 

"So it's working?" Kara asked, tilting her head. 

"The weird experimental medicine you gave me?” Alex asked, chuckling. “Well,I woke up, so it's definitely working." 

"But you think -" 

"It's not going to make me as bulletproof as you, don't worry Kara." Kara frowned. 

"Why not? I want you to be that bulletproof." 

"No you don't," Alex joked with a small smile. "You love saving me." Kara pulled a face. 

"That's true," she agreed, "it means you always buy me dinner." Alex smiled weakly at Kara. Kara felt Alex's tiredness like a wave. She squeezed Alex's hand in reassurance. "Go get some sleep," she murmured. 

"You won't leave?" 

"No. Hank is taking over being Supergirl for a while, just so that I can stay with you." 

"Hank didn't approve of this, did he?" Alex asked, her eyes already closed. Kara's lips thinned. 

"He approved of saving you," she murmured. "He was worried about incomplete data." 

"Hmm," Alex hummed, before she drifted off to sleep. Now that Alex was asleep, Kara really wanted to read the notes that Vasquez had clearly been about to present her with. She bit her lip, and stared at the small chart that was hooked in at the end of Alex's bed. Not for the first time, she daydreamed that it would be very nice for earth's yellow sun to give her the power of summoning objects. Or perhaps telekniesis? She didn't really care, she just couldn't get that chart without disturbing Alex. 

As if on cue, Vasquez entered the room, leading Marlene and Nebraska in. Kara grinned at all three of them. Her hand in Alex's warm hand, and Alex's steady breathing, made her feel like the world was back in order. Everything was the way it should be.

“Did you have a chance to read the chart?” Vasquez asked quietly. Kara shook her head.

“It’s...weird.” Nebraska admitted, shifting from one foot to the other.

“What do you mean?” Kara asked, brow furrowing.

“Alex’s brainwaves have spiked dramatically, and that seems to be the only change.”

“What?”

“Well, her body seems to be the exact same. Nothing seems to have changed. She’s still...well, human?”

“Nothing changed?” Kara felt panic rise in her throat. For some reason, she had imagined that an Alex with powers, an Alex with strength, would make her...less fragile. She didn’t want Alex to get hurt again.

“We just think we need to monitor her. For now.”

“I agree.” Kara said the words as if by rote now; Alex always wanted her to be monitored when _she_ got injured, so she always agreed to it. Now that _Alex_ was injured, it only made sense. Marlene sighed.

“You’d better stay here too,” she said, frowning at Kara. “You look exhausted. When was the last time that you slept?” Kara laughed hollowly.

“You’re right,” she murmured. Marlene leaned forward and lightly touched Kara’s shoulder.

“We’ve got this,” she promised quietly. “All of us.”

“Thank you.”

Once they left, Kara found herself able to breathe out. She looked down at Alex, who was still sleeping steadily. She glanced at the door of their wing, and she clambered into bed next to Alex. Alex instinctively moved over, still sleeping soundly, as Kara wrapped her arms around Alex, nuzzling her neck affectionately. She felt like she needed to breathe Alex in, remember her like this, still smelling of sweet and explosives and antisecptic wipes, just in case everything went wrong tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also im so excited to get OUT of the hospital room next chapter. writing hospital scenes is emotionally exhausting. i way prefer fight scenes.


	6. blast zone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was [called out](http://mykabering.tumblr.com/post/147154566533/i-was-called-out-for-not-updating-my-fic-recently) for not updating, so HERE U GO FRIENDS
> 
> also, do any of you want to help me by beta reading the next chapter? I get really stuck between the first edit and the second edit bc that's when the self doubt etc begins

The dream was familiar in its terror. Alex couldn’t breathe. Water was pressing on her chest, and all she could see was Kara’s body below her, as it sank down, fast, into the water. Alex looked up, for one second, considering the bright water that glittered with sunlight, before she turned back towards Kara. She needed air; there was a pressing urgency as her lungs seemed to collapse within themselves, but Alex ignored them pain, striking out for Kara’s falling body. Sometimes in these dreams, Kara was only a child, the small fragile body that Alex was tasked to protect. Sometimes she was Kara, dressed in a cardigan that fluttered in the water, and a bright dress, her glasses falling in the water next to her. And sometimes, it was Kara in full Supergirl gear, her cape twisting in the water just out of Alex’s reach.

And every time Alex swam with the knowledge that she couldn’t save Kara. She kicked her legs, pulled herself forward in the water, ignoring the growing pain of the pressure of the ocean on the back of her neck, desperate. But as she clawed her way into the darkening ocean, she _knew_ she couldn’t save her. And that this was all her fault.

Alex woke up with a panicked start, taking in a shuddering breath of air and flailing wildly in her sheet. She banged her broken arm against the side of the bed, and curse as pain jarred up her arm. She hated those dreams. She tried to sit up, only to fall back against her pillows in a hiss of pain; her broken rib dug into lung sharply.

Kara woke up with a start next to Alex. She looked up at Alex with bleary eyes and glanced out at the sky.

“Good morning,” Alex whispered, her voice hoarse with dissuse. Kara smiled.

“It’s so early,” she murmured, stretching. Alex heard Kara’s back crack, and watched affectionately as Kara put a hand over her diaphragm. “I slept weirdly,” she complained quietly.

“Come here.” Kara looked up at Alex plaintively, and then crawled over the bed, curling into Alex’s arm, acutely aware of the painful broken ribs that she needed to avoid. Alex started combing her hand through Kara’s hair, surprised to find it unwashed and matted. She frowned, looking down at Kara. She looked so fragile in moments like this. Kara shifted and looked up at Alex. Her blue eyes looked bluer in the grey morning light.

Alex bit her lip. She could tell something was different. Something about the beat in which her heart thrummed in her chest, and the vibrancy of dreams. She was still feeling bleary from the pain, but she was aware that there was something else in the blearyness, a sharpness that felt… alien. She’d heard, from whispered conversation between nurses outside her door, that she had been given “something miraculous.” She bit her lip.

Part of her didn’t even want to ask. A very small part of her wanted to remain ignorant. She didn’t want to know what Kara did to save her.

She sighed, pushing out air, ignoring the twinge in her side. She closed her eyes. She didn’t have the luxury of ignorance. Working around aliens had taught Alex long ago that ignorance was the most effective path to death.

She took a deep breath.

“What did you do to save me, Kara?” Alex whispered, her fear evident in her voice. Kara shifted the tiniest bit against Alex, so she could look up at Alex while she still lay on the crook of Alex’s arm.

“Everything I needed to.” Her blue eyes were clear, and she said with with such clipped determination that Alex knew. She _knew_. She licked her lips nervously and glanced at the television screen. It was blank now, but Alex had an inkling.

“What happened?” She asked, her voice surprisingly hoarse. Kara broke eye contact, looking out of the window instead.

“Nothing,” She said too quickly. Alex frowned and narrowed her eyes at Kara.

“Kara,” she warned quietly. Kara sighed loudly. “I heard the nurses-”

“The press got _some_ information,” she said quickly, interrupting Alex with hurried confessions. “There was a blurry picture. And ambulance reports. But that’s it.”

“What?” Alex asked, confused. She thought… she thought it would be something different. Something to explain the small throbbing pain at the base of her skull. This was… so mundane? This couldn’t be it. She stared at Kara again, but Kara mistook the incredulity on Alex’s face for disapproval.

“I brought you here in my Supergirl costume,” she admitted quietly. “I couldn’t bring you to the DEO. They wouldn’t have been able to save you. I had to...I had to do something.” Alex wanted to brush this discussion aside; she wanted to demand to know what medicine Kara had given her. It made her hands shiver oddly sometimes, and she wanted answers. But then Kara admitted to doing something _else_ reckless. Alex mentally sighed.

“So you, Supergirl, brought me, a civilian, to a public hospital?” She asked, frustrated. “Where the records -”

“Are only theoretically private, yes,” Kara agreed, her eyes shifting to the duvet covering Alex’s body. She plucked away a hair as Alex frowned at her. She looked up and caught the dark look in Alex’s eye. “I had no choice!” Kara cried plaintively. Alex looked away, tears welling up in her eyes.

“But now I’m your _weak point_ ,” she whispered. Kara shook her head slightly and looked past Alex at the ceiling.

“Don’t be stupid,” she dismissed her. Alex narrowed her eyes at her.

“Do you not think that every criminal this side of the sun noticed what you did for me?” She demanded, willing the tears not to leave her eyes.

“I did everything I would have done for a normal civilian,” Kara replied stubbornly. Alex knew it was a combination of the medication, the dream, and Kara’s proximity, but still, when the tears spilled down her cheeks, she cursed herself anyway.

“Kara,” she whispered, closing her eyes again, willing the tears to stay away. “They’re going to start linking Alex Danvers with Supergirl.” Another tear leaked out anyway.

“Don’t be scared,” Kara whispered, leaning up to brush a tear away from Alex’s cheek. Alex stayed stiff against the touch, her anger and panic and exhaustion laced together. She couldn’t let herself enjoy this small contact. She shifted away from Kara’s touch, and looked out of the window instead.

“I’m not scared for _me_ , Kara,” she muttered bitterly. Kara sat up, pulling herself out of their embrace so she could look at Alex, her brow furrowed. Alex didn’t look at her, choosing instead to watch an ambulance drive into the hospital’s parking lot. Her chest ached with an odd tremor of yearning; she missed Kara’s head on her chest like a ship missed its anchor. Alex shook off the thought, focusing instead on the stark white of the ambulance as she quietly explained: “I’m scared for you.” Kara’s mouth thinned and her brow furrowed.

“You should have more faith in the DEO’s abilities,” she said. Alex’s eyes narrowed.

“What?” She asked. Kara sighed.

“Sarah-Joy hid every trace of you,” she explained.

“What do you mean?” Alex asked.

“So there was this one, very blurry photo of you taken by _one_ of the news sites.”

“Facial recognition software -” Alex interrupted, but Kara waved her off.

“Didn’t find anything,” she said, a small smirk pulling up her lip. Alex cocked her head.

“Anything?” She asked, curious. Kara full on grinned.

“You know how they say you can’t ever delete anything from facebook?” She began. Alex narrowed her eyes.

“Yes,” she said, drawing out the sylable, curious where _this_ was going to go.

“Well, Sarah-Joy and Winn built this freakish virus -”

“You know that’s illegal right?”

“- and as a result the news sites, _even CatCo_ , have no idea who you are.” Kara finished loudly, ignoring Alex’s interruption. Alex blinked in surprise.

“They don’t know who I am?” She asked, incredulous.

“Well, they do. They think you’re a librarian called Louisa. Louisa has a better credit score than you, by the way, so if you do really want to buy a house, do it through Louisa.”

“Don’t joke about this,” Alex warned. Kara was full on grinning now.

“I’m not! It’s true!” Kara giggled. “I came up with the name. I thought it was sufficently boring.” Alex couldn’t help but return Kara’s smile now. Kara’s smile was so...bright and unassuming, it chased away Alex’s anxieties. She bit her lip, and then grinned.

“You’re the worst,” she decided, roping her arm around Kara’s waist and pulling her back to her chest. Kara settled there happily.

“You love me,” she said happily. Alex’s heart jumped in her throat.

 _More than you know,_ she added mentally while nuzzling Kara’s hair. Kara sighed happily.

“Can we sleep a little longer?” She asked. Alex chuckled into Kara’s hair.

“Of course.” This time, with Kara draped across her, the nightmares didn’t plague Alex.

Kara’s phone woke them both up. The caller display showed Winn. Kara glanced at the clock; it was just after 7am. She frowned at it, and then picked up, plugging her earpiece in.

“Kara, we have a situation,” Winn said.

“A Cat Grant situation?” Kara asked, her voice rising in panic.

“No.” Winn chuckled. “I’ve been doing a really good job as an assistant since you’ve been gone, though -” Kara cut him off.

“What kind of a situation is it, Winn?” She asked. There was an audible gulp on the other end of the phone.

“A bank robbery situation,” he admitted. Kara laughed.

“I could really use a bank robbery right around now,” she admitted, jumping out of bed with a grin. Alex clenched her teeth against the wave of pain Kara’s sudden movement had unleashed.

“Well, you say that…,” Winn began.

“Oh no.” Kara’s earpiece beeped; she pulled out her phone. Vasquez was on the other line. “Does the fact that Vasquez on the other line mean that Plastique is behind this?”

“Yes.” Kara hung up. Alex sat up in her bed and stared at Kara, ignoring the stab of pain. Panic was coursing through her system.

“Plastique?!” She asked. Kara smiled grimly.

“Don’t worry, Alex,” she picked up her duffle bag and walked into the bathroom, emerging a second later wearing her Supergirl outfit. “She won’t know what hit her.”

“Be careful,” Alex whispered.

“I always am,” Kara replied wryly as she pushed out the window. She glanced back at Alex, and stalled. Alex was watching her with big eyes, fear and worry written on her featurs. Kara stepped back from the window and walked over to Alex.

“It’s going to be okay,” she promised, brushing a lock of hair out of Alex’s face. Alex looked up at Kara, biting her lip. Kara’s hand on her face seemed to carry some charge, laced with an awareness. Alex leaned into it.

“Come back to me,” she whispered.

“Always.”

Kara launched herself into the sky, shooting up into the sky. “Finally,” Vasquez growled as Kara accepted her call. “I thought you were ignoring me.”

“Just needed to finish something. I’m going to stop the bank robbery now.” Vasquez sighed.

“Winn told you?” She asked.

“Yes.” Kara skimmed below the clouds, orientated herself, and did a 90 degree turn, so she was speeding towards the Bank.

“Come to the DEO first,” Vasquez orded.

“No time,” Kara replied, eyes narrowed.

“Kara, stop this right now.” Hank’s voice on the intercom was a short steady order. Kara clenched her teeth.

“She tried to _kill_ Alex,” she growled. “I need to get her.”

“I’m not stopping you from going to see her. I’m stopping from you going unprepared,” Hank warned, steadily. That gave Kara pause.

“Unprepared?” She asked. Vasquez laughed bitterly.

“What do you think the DEO has been doing for the last week?” She demanded. Kara swallowed.

“Taking care of Alex?” She asked.

“You do know we have a research unit that’s roughly 90 people strong, right?” Vasquez asked.

“No,” Kara admitted, slightly blind-sided.

“Come here, and let us help you,” Hank said steadily. Kara twisted in midair, changing direction, and sped towards the DEO.

Kara was aware that Vasquez was stepping in for Alex, and smiled at her gratefully as she found her in the DEO, finishing up a syringe. Nebraska was sitting next to her, watching Vasquez critically. When Kara came in, Nebraska got up and immediately hugged Kara. Kara realized with a twinge of guilt that Alex’s team was probably really going through a lot; they had lost two good agents, and Nebraska was probably really struggling. Kara hugged her back.

“How are you?” She murmured to her. Nebraska shrugged.

“Okay, I suppose,” she admitted. “I’ve been concentrating on this mostly.” Vasquez held up the syringe.

“What is _this_ , exactly?” Kara asked, eyeing the clear liquid. She had really had enough of injections for the last week, and didn’t like the idea of being injected with anything.

“Nebraska is going to explain it to you, since this was her idea,” Vasquez said, turning to Nebraska. Nebraska gave a small embarassed smile.

“This is a solution for Plastique,” she explained to Kara, smirking at her own pun.

“Tremblay?” Kara asked, eyeing the liquid in the syringe.

“Yes. From the blast site fragments and video camera footage Winn recovered, we found that when her skin does that...purple thing before she explodes, its actually accumulating electric charge through an alkaline solution. So I reverse engineered this acidic solution; if you inject her with it while she’s going...well, purple, she’ll be unable to activate her powers. I obviously have not managed to do any tests yet, so I would suggest you don’t try giving it to her before she goes...purple.” Kara stared at the two of the blankly.

“You have to explain the purple thing again,” she admitted.

“Well, according to the security cameras in the van, right before Plastique exploded her skin gave a purple discharge.”

“She glowed purple,” Vasquez supplied.

“For only a second,” Nebraska amended. Kara nodded.

“Okay.”

“And that seemed to be the ignition point for her explosive ability,” Nebraska explained, waving the syringe around wildly. Vasquez putting a steadying hand on her shoulder.

“The glowing?” Kara asked for clarification.

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Kara looked down at the syringe. “So I have to jab it in her while she’s glowing.”

“According to the feed she glowed for a total of three seconds before she exploded.”

“So I have a 3 second window to find out whether this work, or?” Kara raised an eyebrow.

“She’s going to blow everything within 10 feet of her into smitherens.”

“This is so comforting,” Kara sighed. Nebraska bit her lip.

“We did our best,” she admitted as the door opened behind Kara. She turned around and saw Hank and Marlene entering. She gave them a tense smile before she turned back to Vasquez and Nebraska.

“What’s my backup plan?” Kara asked, frowning at the syringe. Behind her, Marlene chuckled wryly as Vasquez sighed. “Not good,” she admitted. Kara groaned loudly.

“It’s flying her above the city and letting her exploded in my arms outside of the blast radius, isn’t it?” She asked.

“Yes,” Vasquez admitted. Kara buried her face in her hands.

“I hate it when you guys are under time pressure,” she muttered.

“We’re sorry.” Kara sighed, and gave Nebraska and Vasquez a quick, weak smile.

“Thank you for remembering this,” she said sheepishly. Vasquez smiled and behind her, Hank cleared his throat.

“I don’t think Alex would forgive us if we allowed you to run headlong into battle, Kara,” he said. Kara gave him a quick smile. Kara bit her lip.

“I know.” Kara rubbed her hand along the fabric of her hero outfit. She felt off kilter; when Alex was here, there was a certain regular rhythm that went with briefings. But now… Marlene seemed to catch Kara’s uncertainty, because she stepped forward and offered Kara a light punch in the shoulder.

“Also, we like you well enough,” she said with a light grin.

“Thanks,” Kara said, returning the grin.

“I’ll be here,” Vasquez promised, stepping forward, “talking you through the blast radius evacuation if you need me for that.” Kara swallowed.

“Great.” Marlene frowned.

“Do you want the Alpha Team?” She asked.

“Only outside the blast radius.” Marlene nodded, running a hand along Kara’s arm to reassure her. Hank tilted his head.

“You need better backup, Kara,” Hank muttered.

“At the moment, we can’t afford backup,” Kara said, smiling tightly. “We’re short-staffed, and I think I can handle Marie now. Well, now that we know the extent to her powers.”

“Well, we _think_ we know the extent of her powers,” Nebraska interjected.

“You’re not helping right now, Nebraska,” Marlene hissed.

“I’ll go back and stay with Alex while you’re gone,” Hank said. Nebraska nodded.

“I’ll go with him,” she said.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t do anything Alex wouldn’t do,” Marlene said with a small smirk. Kara snorted, rolled her eyes at Marlene, and shot into the air. Vasquez’s voice crackled over the headset for one uncomfortable second, and then she said quietly: “Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear,” Kara replied, doing a quick barrel roll in the air.

“Good. Now play it safe,” Vasquez warned.

“Like Alex plays it safe?” Kara teased.

“I never said that. Alex is the anthesisis of someone who plays it safe. All I said was don’t do anything Alex wouldn’t do.” Kara laughed.

“You know that’s not a good thing to say to me right now. Alex killed a man for me once,” she pointed out. Vasquez laughed.

“You need to stop talking, and start flying better. You just overshot the coordinates.”

“Fuck.” Kara spun around midair, and then slammed down into the ground. She grimaced as she realised she’d left a midsized crater in the street as she straightened up; it was one of Clark’s signature moves that she _hated_ , but it was so easy to miscalculated the durability of the tarmac.

“Hello Supergirl.” Kara looked up. Plastique was standing in the building, the twelve hostages all looking up at her in panic. Kara wasn’t used to people using her superhearing in such a casual way; of course she could hear Tremblay from the parking lot, but she didn’t like that Tremblay knew that. Kara approached the building slowly. Tremblay grinned, and walked up to the door and opened it for Kara.

“I love that the DEO stopped my hostages from calling the cops. Cops make everything so messy, right? Witnesses.” Kara bit her lip, and ignored Tremblay’s smirk as she closed and locked the door behind Kara.

“Hello, Marie,” Kara said steadily, quickly assessing the scene. The bank was an ordinary concrete building, with glass doors leading into offices. The windows were all close to the ceiling and too small for any tactical units. It didn’t look good.

“I prefer Plastique,” Tremblay said with a small sardonic smile. Kara returned the metallic smile.

“I don’t,” she replied. Tremblay narrowed her eyes at Kara.

“Okay, but I don’t mean to be rude, but you are not really in control of this situation right now.” Tremblay grinned. “See, you know what I can do. And if you don’t let me do what I want, I can explode at any moment. And you may survive, but these 12 hostages? They won’t. And let me tell you,I have spent the last 12 minutes in which waited for you finding out about these hostages! Did you know that these people lead incredibly mundane, very boring lives! This one,” Tremblay pointed at a pale shivering woman, “even says she has “a son to go home too.” Doesn’t that sound...awful?”

“Marie -”

“Please,” Tremblay snapped, “don’t call me that. I want to retain a level of anonymity.”

“Ma-” Kara started again.

“Uh-uh.” Kara sighed.

“Plastique.” Marie grinned.

“Yes?” She asked. “I’m all ears.”

“You don’t want to do this.” The words sounded tinny, and cliched, even to Kara, and Tremblay flinched at the words.

“I really hate that rhetoric,” she told Kara with a sigh. “If I didn’t want to do it, I could stop any time, right?” Kara opened her mouth as if to say something, but Plastique waved it away. "See, It's so annoying. I could stop any second, put up my hands and surrendor, but that's not what I want. I would like some money, some guarantees, and a helicopter. Can you please tell the cops that?"

"Tremblay -"

"Ah ah ah!! Remember! I'm the one in power. So get me some cops, and make sure I have witnesses."

"Please, think this through -" Kara begged, but Tremblay interrupted her again.

"Well, that's just insulting,” she snapped. She looked up at the ceiling, and then glanced back down at Kara. “Should I...yes, I'm going to engage with that while your people, who are surely listening, are alerting the cops to this hostage situation. Supergirl, do you know who I am? Do you? I'm not your average garden variety villain. I'm your _nemisis_."

"Nemisis?" Kara asked, confused.

"Well, actually. That probably gives you too much credit. You were born into your power. You fell from the sky, suddenly with the ability to fly. Do you know what I did? I studied every particle under the known atmosphere. I learned the nuances of my own body at a microscopic level, and I figured out how to improve. Your body crashed into this world perfect. I made my own body, chiseled it out of this imperfect starting point. I made it better." She ran her hand over her arm and smiled at it, before she looked up at Kara.

"You don't even know what it means to suffer humanity,” she explained. “I hear you don't feel pain. How can you think of yourself as one of us, as someone who should be allowed to walk among us, make decisions for us, when you don't even know the principle of the human condition?" She was looked down at Kara, her voice sweet and cloying. Kara hated this condescending woman. She clenched her teeth.

She opened her mouth to say something, but the screaching of breaks, and the bright blue/red lights of sirens reflecting on the cheap wooden panneling on the walls. Tremblay grinned.

“Finally,” she said, showing her teeth again. Kara swallowed.

"I know about pain-" She began, but Tremblay snorted, interrupting her.

"God. You're not worth this," she said derisively. Kara felt herself tearing up. This _woman_ couldn’t just _leave_ unharmed, after what she’d done to Alex. She pushed herself to step forward, to stand her ground, to look threatening.

"Stop it," she snarled.

"Just let me get the money, and I'll let you go," Tremblay said, loudly ignoring Kara. She glanced back to where Kara was standing, in the middle of the room, fists balled at her side. "You're just not up to this." Tremblay explained with a small smile, as if she was giving Kara some constructive criticism. “Perhaps next time?”

"I don't -" Kara began again, but she was cut off again as Tremblay stood up, two duffle bags of money in each hand, and gestured at Kara.

"Behold, citizens of National City. This is the woman you consider your hero."

"No something -" Kara faltered and clutched her chest. She knew what a panic attack felt like, she knew the tell-tale shortness of breath and the erratic, panicky breaths. But this wasn't _that_. This was something different, far worse. Kara felt like her organ were shifting inside her, falling apart at the seams. She fell to the ground, chocking. She felt like blood should be welling up in her throat as she gasped for air. Something was wrong.

"Supergirl?" It was the woman with the son. She had a tight dark afro and kind brown eyes as she crawled forward. "Supergirl, what's wrong?" Her voice was sharp with panic, but Kara could barely hear her.

Later, when the DEO examined the CCTV footage from the bank, they would see the exact moment that Kara faltered. Plastique looked at her, for a single moment, with something akin to sympathy in her dark eyes, before she shrugged, and walked out the back door.

In that moment though, Kara thought she was dying. Her thoughts were dominated by a voice that wasn't hers. A repeated call, a cry in her head that made her head pound. A small refrain, a cry, laced with panic. "Don't go near Kara," the pain screamed, and it made no sense, and it hurt - oh god it hurt.

"Supergirl!" Something inside Kara's body snapped like a rubber band, flicking her back into place. She retched on the floor of the bank, rolling over to stare at the woman, the kind woman, the mother. Kara blinked - her brown skin kept on swimming in and out of focus.

"Whats happening to her?" Her voice sounded distant. A different voice was saying something different in a differnt pitch, very far away. Kara gasped, and pushed the second voice away. She wanted to hear the woman, the mother, she wanted to hear her, she didn't want other voices intruding.

"Supergirl, are you okay?" The woman's voice was quiet and hoarse.

"Where's Plastique?" Kara whispered, the words barely making it across her lips.

"She's gone," the mother whispered.

"Where?" The adrenaline this episode...whatever it was.. had sparked in Kara twisted itself into a sharp knife. "I need to go." Suddenly all she could think of was Tremblay, visiting Alex, finishing the job, watching with relish -

Kara staggered up, and retched again. "You're ill," the woman murmured quietly, but Kara didn't pay attention to her, instead stumbling to the doorway. She felt like her body was overwhelmed, her thumbs tingling.

"Vasquez." She coughed. "Vasquez." The world was mute. No one was answering her. Everything was muffled, as if surrounded by cotton.

"Supergirl!" A police woman caught her. "What did Plastique do to you?"

"I need to...I need to go." Sound returned in a sudden wave that nearly through Kara back. Suddenly she heared everything, from Vasquez shrieking into her earpiece to the cracking electricity going through the electric lines, and a kid calling for it's mom four blocks away.

"KARA!" Vasquez screamed.

"Medics, I need someone to help me with Supergirl!"

"We have a poison victim here!"

Through the noise, Kara heard the small, comforting voice of the mother. "She saved us. Be careful with her."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really wish i could stop the angst, but smut is better with good angst build up, remember that.  
> also, re:suspense. how am i doing?

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is ruining my reputation since its currently rated a Teen, but please _please_ know that in my outline, chapter 9 is the designated "sex" chapter


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